ONEONTA, N.Y. (November 13, 2021) - Almost 24 hours after their 77-74 home triumph over Mount Saint Vincent, SUNY Delhi men's basketball imposed nearly a similar outcome at Hartwick, 78-74, Sunday night. It marked the Broncos' first-ever win over the Hawks in their modern NCAA Division III era to start the year 3-0. SUNY Delhi has now won 14 straight games dating back to its 11-game win streak to close out the 2019-20 season.
It was a close matchup throughout, with either side trading as much as seven-point leads during the game. Delhi held a slim 36-34 lead at the half, leading into a back-and-forth final half. Hartwick opened up a 61-55 lead late with under eight minutes before back-to-back threes from Delhi's Brennan Heaven and Norman Wilson tied things up with 7:05 to play. The Hawks countered with an Anthony Girard 3-pointer before Lester McCarthy responded with an old-fashioned 3-pointer, an and-one layup, that ignited five straight points for the Broncos, opening with a Mavenson Therneus jumper and Isiah Barnes completing an and-one opportunity. Hartwick closed the gap again to 72-70, but the Broncos stepped up once more to stifle the Hawks as they gathered four of the next five points. Hartwick made a 3-pointer in the closing seconds before an intentionally-fouled Barnes clinched the victory on a pair of free throws with 0.4 seconds to play.
While Hartwick shot better percentage-wise, 40.6 percent (26-of-64) and 8-of-22 threes to Delhi's 36.8 percent (28-of-76) and 5-of-24, the Broncos cashed in on more free throw opprtunities, 17-of-25 to the Hawks' 14-of-21, and steered the ball away from Hartwick via 14 steals off 21 turnovers for a 24-7 lead in points off turnovers. Delhi's depth also played to its advantage with a 31-15 lead in bench points, led by Erhunosere's team-leading 17 points and nine rebounds, making 7-of-9 free throws. Isiah Barnes was next on the team scoring list with 14 points, netting 6-of-7 from the line, and a team-best six assists, with his four steals matching the game high with teammate Wilson, who logged 11 points and four rebounds. Lester McCarthy totaled 12 points, while Fauzi Cizmesija-Ulmer delivered nine points and four boards off the bench. Therneus garnered eight points and six rebounds.
"Tonight was a great team effort, we showed a lot of resilience and toughness," said Head Coach Zack Thomsen. "I love the way our guys have competed so far this season."
SUNY Delhi has another top-billing matchup come Tuesday, hosting RPI at 7:00 p.m. The two teams' only other matchup was on Dec. 29, 2019 at the Utica College Tournament, with the Engineers taking a 78-70 win.
