ITHACA, N.Y. (February 29, 2008) – Third-seeded Nazareth College used a balanced scoring attack en route to an 81-70 win over second-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology in the semifinals of the 2008 Empire 8 Men's Basketball Championship on Friday evening at the Ben Light Gymnasium in Ithaca, N.Y. Senior guard Waleed Farid led the Ducks (20-6) with 23 points, six assists, and four rebounds in the loss. Stevens will now await word of a possible at-large bid to the NCAA or ECAC Tournament. That information will be released on Monday.
Junior guard Virgil Gray finished with 14 points for the Ducks. Senior forward Tim Williams had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Golden Flyers (19-7) were led by senior guard Joe Canori (Webster, N.Y.), who scored 22 points and made six three-pointers. Sophomore guard Corey McAdam (Fairport, N.Y.) came up one rebound shy of a triple-double (17 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds, five steals). Junior forward Ryan McAdam (Fairport, N.Y.) contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Nazareth out-scored Stevens 22-13 over the first eight-plus minutes of the game as Canori hit three early three-pointers. The Ducks responded with a 12-5 run to get to within 27-25 on a three-pointer by junior guard Anthony Passalacqua with 7:25 left in the half.
A 9-1 spurt by the Golden Flyers pushed the lead back up to 10 points (36-26) with 4:42 to go. Sophomore guard Rayvon Higdon (Rochester, N.Y.) capped the rally with a lay-up. Stevens came right back with a 9-2 run to get to within 38-35 following a pair of free throws by Farid late in the half. The Ducks entered the locker room trailing 40-35 at the break.
Leading 43-42 with just under 17 minutes to go, Nazareth scored 10 unanswered points in 91 seconds to take control of the game. Senior center Tyler Smith (Fairport, N.Y.) had four points in the run. Canori and Ryan McAdam both drained three-pointers in the spurt as the Golden Flyers went on top 53-42 with 15:16 to play. Stevens did not mount a serious charge after that point. The closest the Ducks got was to within nine points on two separate occasions midway through the period.
Nazareth shot 49.2 percent (30-for-61) from the floor on the evening. The Ducks were 25-for-68 (36.8 percent) from the field. The Golden Flyers owned a 46-35 edge on the glass.
With Friday's win, Nazareth advanced to the finals of the Empire 8 Tournament. The Golden Flyers will face the winner of top-seeded Ithaca College and fourth-seeded St. John Fisher College on Saturday at 3 p.m.
