By: LOUIS FREDA
Last Saturday, the St. Lawrence University Men’s Basketball Team easily beat Elmira College 72-52 at home. St. Lawrence Head Coach, Chris Downs, had this to say about Saturday’s strong performance, “I thought we did some really good things defensively and were strong in the paint. This was a big win for us, as we’re gaining confidence in the way we play.” With the impressive victory over Elmira, the St. Lawrence team improved their record to 4-3.
The Saints were able to control the game by dominating rebounding, on both the offensive and defensive ends. They picked up a season high 46 rebounds, and at the end of the contest held a 46-30 rebounding advantage over Elmira. Senior forward and Captain Brady Condlin led the rebounding effort with 10 boards. In terms of scoring, St. Lawrence Sophomore guards Kyle Kobis and Willie Zachery scored 16 and 15 points, respectively. First year forward Riley Naclerio had a breakout performance with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.
St. Lawrence shot 47% from the field and outscored Elmira 34-10 in the paint. Zachery put on a clinic with 15 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals, as he was able to drive to the basket and score or dish the ball out to his teammates all game long. Zachery’s 1st half effort, 11 points and 4 assists, helped St. Lawrence build a significant 37-25 lead at half.
Elmira came out strong to start the second half, knocking down back to back three pointers, cutting the Saints lead in half. Coach Downes called a timeout, settled his team down, and the Saints never looked back. St. Lawrence will play its final game of the 2014 calendar year on Friday, Dec. 12th at SUNY Potsdam with a tipoff time of 7:00 pm.