Game 1 Recap & Box Score: Southern Maine 80, Rutgers-Newark 73 (OT)

SCHENECTADY, NY -- Steve Madej scored 22 points and Joey Lokitis and Drew Goldstein added 11 points each to lead the Union men's basketball team to a 94-60 win over Medgar Evers in the first round of the Sig Makofski Invitational Tournament at Union's Viniar Athletic Center Friday night. The Dutchmen, 5-3, will play in the tourney title game Saturday against Southern Maine (3-7), which defeated Rutgers-Newark, 80-73 in overtime earlier Friday night. Medgar Evers (0-10) faces Rutgers-Newark (8-4) at 1 p.m. in the consolation contest.

Rusmir Dzanko scored a career high 10 points with five rebounds, while Nick Ciresi and Matt Covucci each posted eight rebounds for the Dutchmen. Union had a 58-34 rebounding advantage on the night. Madej and Goldstein each dished out four assists in the victory.

The Cougars were led by Kallai Sharpe (Brooklyn, NY), who scored a game high 25 points. Marcus Archer (Brooklyn, NY) scored 12 points and Ronald Holloway (Brooklyn, NY) added 10 points. Kris Deriggs (Brooklyn, NY) led Medgar Evers with eight rebounds. 

The Dutchmen jumped out to a 16-5 lead and led by as many as 17 in the first half, 35-18 with 5:32 left in the first. Union led by as many as 37 points, at 92-55 with 1:27 remaining in the game. The Dutchmen shot 49% for the game, including 56% in the second half, while holding the Cougars to 34% shooting for the night. Union had a commanding 58-38 rebounding advantage and shot 78% from the line. This was the first meeting between the schools in men's basketball.

Union-Medgar Evers box score


SOUTHERN MAINE 80, RUTGERS-NEWARK 73 (OT)

SCHENECTADY, NY -- Otis Smith (Altamonte Springs, FL) scored eight of his 18 points in overtime as Southern Maine defeated Rutgers-Newark, 80-73 in the first game of the 2009 Sig Makofski Invitational Tournament at Union's Viniar Athletic Center Friday night. The Huskies improved to 3-7 and will face host Union in Saturday's 3 p.m. title game. The Scarlet Raiders (8-4) will take on Medgar Evers in the consolation contest at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Andy Tracy (Ellsworth, ME) scored 21 points with seven rebounds and Greg Whitaker (Presque Isle, ME) and Mike Poulin (Readfield, ME) added 13 points with a game high nine rebounds for the Huskies. Otis Smith scored 18 points for Southern Maine. 

David Cherry (Linden, NJ) led the Scarlet Raiders with 21 points. He enters Saturday's game with 998 career points, on the verge of becoming the 12th player in Rutgers-Newark history to record 1,000 career points. Cherry scored 17 points in the second half of play, helping to lead the Scarlet Raiders towards the overtime after Southern Maine had a 32-25 advantage after the first half. 

Southern Maine led by 10 at 38-28 with 2:02 gone in the second half, but a 16-7 run in 9:50 brought the Scarlet Knights to within one at 45-44. The Huskies led by seven at 53-46 with 6:01 left but Rutgers-Newark again came back, and it was 62-60 Southern Maine with 13 seconds left after a three pointer by Scarlet Knight Greg Moore (Jersey City, NJ). After a foul, Poulin missed the first free throw but hit the second for a 63-60 Southern Maine lead with 12 seconds later. Cherry buried a three pointer with five seconds left to force the overtime.

In the extra session, Rutgers-Newark led 66-65 with 4:04 left, but the Huskies went on a 10-2 run for a 75-68 lead with just 44 seconds left en route to the victory.

Southern Maine-Rutgers-Newark box score