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Men’s Basketball Ready for RIT Tournament
December 13, 2012
Sophomore Jared Wagner (left) and senior Teddy Tuggles (right) lead the Keuka men's basketball team into this weekend's Harold J. Brodie Tournament at RIT (photo courtesy of Erik Holmes, Keuka College Sports Information Department).
The Keuka College men’s basketball team started the 2012-13 season losing its first five games, but the Storm have momentum on their side when they compete in this weekend’s Harold J. Brodie Tournament at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Senior guard Teddy Tuggles (Rochester, NY/Gates Chili) and the Storm earned a pair of critical North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victories last weekend, knocking off defending NEAC champion Morrisville State 59-50 before outlasting SUNY Cobleskill 82-69 in overtime.
The Green and Gold (2-5, 2-0 NEAC) head into the RIT tournament brimming with confidence after the back-to-back wins.
Tuggles, who was named the NEAC’s basketball co-Student Athlete of the Week, averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists per game in both victories, while also knocking down 83 percent (10-for-12) of his free throws.
Tuggles opened the week scoring 11 points, with 6 rebounds and 3 assists while sophomore Trevor Healey (Wethersfield, CT/Wethersfield) recorded his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds vs. Morrisville, a win that snapped Keuka’s 11-game losing streak dating back to last season.
The Green and Gold limited a potent Morrisville State offense that came in averaging 79.3 points per game to 29 points below its season average.
Tuggles followed that up a with a season-high 23 points to go along with 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 1 steal in an 82-69 overtime win at SUNY Cobleskill Saturday afternoon.
Tuggles scored 21 points in the second half and overtime, including a big 3-pointer during an 8-2 run to start the extra session.
A pair of free throws Tuggles put Keuka ahead 61-59 with 2:52 remaining before Cobleskill used a 7-2 run to take a 66-63 lead on Mike Marcelin’s jumper with 20 seconds remaining.
Senior Conor Boyer (East Rochester, NY/East Rochester) made his first career ‘3′ to force OT, and the Storm outscored Cobleskill 16-3 in OT to complete the 2-0 week.
An aggressive 2-3 zone defense limited Cobleskill to 0-for-8 shooting in overtime, and just 20 percent (5-for-25) on ‘3s’.
Sophomore Adam Starks (Wellsville, NY/Andover) scored four of his 10 points in overtime while sophomore Jared Wagner (Pittsford, NY/McQuaid) added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals for the Green and Gold.
For his efforts, Healey was named Keuka’s Male Athlete of the Week.
Keuka plays Manhattanville College at 6 p.m. on Friday night, and host RIT takes on D’Youville College at 8 p.m. Friday. The Storm will face either RIT or D’Youville in either the championship or consolation game on Saturday in the final games of 2012.
Tuggles leads the Storm in scoring (13.7 ppg.). Seven different student-athletes are averaging six points per game: Tuggles, Wagner (7.7 ppg.), Starks (7.7 ppg.) and Healey (7.3 ppg.). Sophomore Tyler Hixson (Shortsville, NY/Red Jacket) is averaging 6.3 ppg., followed by freshman Casey Williams (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) with 6.1 ppg. and Boyer (5.9 ppg.).
Live stats are available from all of this weekend’s action by visiting http://sidearmstats.com/rit/mbball/scoreboard.aspx. A live video feed can be found at http://www.nmtvsports.com.
