THE BASICS
-Score: Nyack College 84, Assumption College 76
-Records: Assumption (3-1), Nyack (2-2)
-Location: Nyack, N.Y.
-The Lead: The Assumption College men's basketball fell to the Warriors of Nyack College on the road on Saturday afternoon. The Hounds fought hard to pull within three with under two minutes of play, but Nyack was able to hold on for the final 84-76 victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Warriors opened the game with three three-pointers in a row including two from sophomore Jayden Dawson to take an early 9-0 lead. They pulled ahead by 15 on a basket from behind the arc by junior Austin Toomalatai for the 24-9 advantage with 11:10 on the clock in the first half.
-Junior Matthew Kelly (North Potomac, Md. / Quince Orchard) put up back-to-back threes and red-shirt senior Malik Brown (Waldorf, Md. / Northpoint) added a layup at the end of the half to help the Hounds pull back within eight heading into the break.
-The Warriors kicked off the second half with another three unanswered baskets to pull ahead 41-27 with 18:17 to play.
-The Hounds responded with a seven-point run of their own to pull back within seven, 41-34. First year Saxon Thompson (Allen, Texas / The Episcopal School of Dallas / Wilbraham & Monson Acad.) knocked down a three-pointer with 8:18 to play to bring Assumption within six, 60-54.
-Assumption took a full timeout with 5:03 to play and came back with back-to-back jumpers from Kelly and a move under the basket by Brown to bring them within just three of the hosts with 3:11 on the clock.
-Nyack made 10 free throws in the final minute of play to secure the final 84-76 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
-Kelly led all players with 27 points on the day. He added four assists and three rebounds for Assumption. Freshman Isiah Gaiter (Meriden, Conn. / Sacred Heart High School / Huntington Prep) came off the Bench with 13 points and added four rebounds and three assists.
-Graduate student Thomas Nolan led the Warriors with 19 points to go along with five rebounds. Dawson added 17 points in the victory with sophomore Joel Bailey finished with 13 points and a game-high six rebounds.
-Assumption shot 45.8% from the field, 33.3% from beyond the arc and 85.7% from the free-throw line. They finished with 25 rebounds.
-Nyack was 49.1% from the field, 52% from three-point range, and 82.6% from the free-throw line. They pulled down 31 rebounds as a team.
UP NEXT
-Assumption opens up Northeast-10 Conference play when they host Southern New Hampshire on November 23rd at 3:30 p.m.
STAY CONNECTED
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