Men's Basketball Hangs On for 15th Win of the Season
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| 2/16/2023 9:00 AM | Kevin Turi, Sports Information Coordinator
Syracuse, NY-
The Bryant & Stratton College- Syracuse Men's Basketball defeated Bryant & Stratton College- Albany 77-74 on Wednesday night. The victory for the Bobcats continues to extend their program record for wins in a single season up to 15 with their overall record at an impressive 15-6.
How it Happened:
The Bobcats were on the road Wednesday night for the first leg of a home-and-home matchup with sister college, Bryant & Stratton College- Albany. Following the intense 4th quarter of the Women's basketball game which took place prior to tip-off of the Men's game, the energy in the building was high and translated to a back and forth first half between the two Men's teams. The Bobcats were able to start the game on a 9-2 run, but Bryant & Stratton College- Albany would respond with a run of their own to tie the game at 10 about halfway through the first half.
The two teams would continue to trade baskets and battle over the remaining 10-minutes of the first half with neither able to gain a big edge. Heading into the halftime break, the Bobcats of Syracuse held just a 2-point lead thanks to a Darren Joyner basket at the buzzer. The score at halftime was 32-30.
In the second half, the first 10-minutes held true to the rhythm of the first half and saw back and forth action with each team taking a lead at various points in the half. At the 12 minute mark in the second half, the Bobcats would go on an 11-2 run to open up a 56-45 lead that they would never relinquish. Leading the way for the Bobcats on the evening was forward Josue Oreste (21 points and 11 rebounds) and guards Darren Joyner (18 points) and Anton Berga (16 points). Despite some missed free throws down the stretch that made the final few minutes a little nerve-racking, the Bobcats would go on to win their 15th game of the season, 77-74.
"I am really proud of the way that this group battled tonight," said Head Coach Clay Gagen-Sherman following the victory on Wednesday night. "We did a great job separating ourselves in the second half and while the final few minutes were not as clean as we would have liked, we cannot be mad with the end result. Moving forward to our last few games of the season and the postseason, we need to continue to get better and work on finishing games a little bit better than we did tonight."
Next Game:
The Bobcats will be back home this Saturday, February 18th at 6pm for their final home game of the season versus Bryant & Stratton College- Albany.
Be sure to follow @bscbobcatssyr on all of our social media platforms for updates and more on the 2022-23 Bryant & Stratton College- Syracuse Men's Basketball season!