Box Score
Box Score (St. John Fisher-Brooklyn)
PURCHASE, N.Y. – Hartwick senior Mark Blazek led all scorers with 30 points to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team and lead the Hawks to a 73-67 victory over the Manhattanville men's basketball team on day two of the 2011 Castle Classic, held on Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Gymnasium.
Blazek was blazing hot for the visitors in the opening half, going 8 of 10 from the field and 5 for 5 from beyond the arc to go into intermission with 22 points. Even though he took just five shots in the second half (and made two), he still finished with a game-high 30 points while also adding a team-leading six boards. Senior Chris Ryder also played well for the Hawks in the win, chipping in 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting and adding four rebounds.
The majority of the Manhattanville offense on the day came from senior Trevoy Pointer (Dallas, Texas/Skyline), who finished with 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting. After that, however, no Valiant netted more than eight points on the afternoon, as senior Ivan Jovicic (Belgrade, Serbia/Sports HS Belgrade) ranked second on the team in scoring. Senior Armani Blackmon (Plano, Texas/Plano East) and sophomore Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) both had good games on the boards, as Blackmon posted his third straight double-digit output with a game-high 13, while Bramswig added a career-high 11.
In the end, the Valiants were done in by some stellar Hartwick shooting, as the Hawks connected on 50 percent (28 for 56) of their shots from the field and an impressive 10 of 16 (62.5 percent) from beyond the arc for the game. Manhattanville, meanwhile, shot just 38.8 percent (26 for 67) from the field and 6 of 20 (30.0 percent) from downtown.
The game did not start well for the home team, as the Hawks hit six of their first seven shots to jump out to a 15-6 lead. The Hartwick lead grew to as many as 13 on three separate occasions in the half, the last coming on a layup by Mike Geisser with 7:04 left in the first half to put the visitors up 31-18. But the Valiants erased almost all of that lead before halftime, getting within one with 54 seconds left before a Blazek three sent the teams into the break with Hartwick up 39-35.
In that opening half, Hartwick connected on 55.6 percent (15 for 27) of its shots, while the Valiants were 13 for 33 (39.4 percent). Blazek and Ryder combined for 30 of the team's 39 points in the opening frame, while Pointer led Manhattanville with nine points at the break.
The second half was full of drama on both sides, as neither team earned a lead of more than four points until the final 61 seconds. Manhattanville came back to regain the lead 2:45 into the frame on a layup by Bramswig, and kept that lead until the 7:14 mark when Ryder sunk a three from the top of the arc to put Hartwick back up by two at 48-46.
From that point out, Manhattanville continued to hang around and have multiple chances to regain the lead, but the home team never could get over the hump. A three from senior Jeff Ventura (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cypress Bay) got the squad back to even (54-54) with 9:21 left, and the game was retied by the home team three more times, the last coming on a trifecta from Pointer that knotted the score at 63-all with 5:28 remaining.
But Hartwick kept the Valiants at bay just enough, as a key three-point play by Anthony Keane put the Hawks up four with 1:56 left and the Valiants could get no closer the rest of the way.
In the first game of the day, Brooklyn posted a 58-45 victory over Saint John Fisher. Tyshawn Russell led all players with 21 points to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team, while Amil John contributed a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards playing in all 40 minutes. Jason Norsen was the Cardinals' All-Tournament representative after coming just short of a second straight double-double, netting a team-high 16 points and adding eight rebounds.
Manhattanville (1-2) will play its first road game of the year on Tuesday, as the Valiants travel to Ramapo for a 7 p.m. contest against the Roadrunners. Hartwick (3-0) will take on Union on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
