ONEONTA, NY – Ryan Whelpley scored a career high 20 points to lead Union to an 88-70 victory over Hartwick Tuesday night at Lambros Arena. The Dutchmen remain undefeated with the win at 3-0. Hartwick drops to 3-3 overall.
Whelpley missed a double-double by one rebound with his game high 20 points and nine boards for Union.
Deshon Burgess added 17 points and
William Hython registered a double-double with 13 points and a team-best 10 rebounds.
Kevin Weckworth recorded 15 points.
Hartwick led by four points with seven minutes remaining in the opening half, but a big 18-3 run to close the period handed Union an 11-point lead which it held throughout the second half. Union darted out to a quick 8-0 lead after two and a half minutes had elapsed in the game only to have the Hawks answer back with six straight. Hartwick was able to tie the score three times until a Matt Wilson layup gave the Hawks their first lead of the game, 20-18, with under 10 minutes to go in the half.
Hartwick maintained the advantage for the next three and a half minutes until Whelpley converted a layup to tie the score at 6:07. Thirty-six seconds later,
Terell Winney's free throws put the Dutchmen in front for the rest of the night. They would hit five of their final nine shots in the half, including a pair of three-pointers while the Hawks hit only one of six shots from the field to goa along with four turnovers in the span.
The Hawks got it down to nine following Jake Sinicki's tip-in early in the second half, but three minutes later the Dutchmen scored 12 straight points to open up a 22-point edge, 58-36. Union made all five of its shots in the spurt. Eighteen points was as close as the Hawks would get until just over two minutes remained in the game.
Sinicki paced four Hawks in double figures with a career-high of 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He also grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds. Trevor Norton added 11 points with Wilson and Joey Lufkin each contributing 10 for the Hawks. Wilson also grabbed eight rebounds.
The Dutchmen shot 49.2% (31-for-63) as a group in the game. They also held the edge on the glass by a margin of 42-36. Hartwick shot 41.8% (28-for-67).
Union next plays at home in the Sig Makofski Invitational against Westfield State on Saturday.
