ONEONTA, NY – In its season home opener, the Hartwick men's basketball team posted a 101-85 win Tuesday night at Lambros Arena. The Hawks capitalized on a career-high 27 points from Brandon LaForest en route to the victory

Combined with the likes of senior guard Joey Lufkin, who added 20 points to the Hawks' cause, the back-court duo went 17-30 from the field and registered 14 rebounds. Jake Sinicki ended with 23 points in 26 minutes before fouling out with 3:21 left in the contest.

A turnaround jumper in the paint by Sinicki opened the scoring for the host which was quickly followed up by shots from Lufkin and LaForest to give the Hawks its first lead and put them in front by four, 6-2. Union answered with a 9-0 run in part to its leading scorer Deshon Burgess, who accounted for four of those points, 11-6, capping his team's largest lead of the game. He would later finish the high-scorer of the night with 30 points and 11 boards. The score settled on a made layup by Matt Liquori (13:15) but with another make by LaForest, the score would continue to grow in the Hawks' favor for the duration of the game.

With a little under nine minutes to go in the first half, LaForest served up a rejection on a mid-range attempt leading to the easy bucket on the other end, rebuilding the Hawks advantage to six, 24-19, with 7:46 to go before the break. Justin Pratt would gift the Hawks' their largest advantage in the first, on a make from behind the arc, 37-23 with under five minutes to go. The Dutchmen would trail by its largest deficit of the first, down 20 heading into the locker room.

For the second stanza, the Hawks would lead by as many as 21 points, 90-69. The Dutchmen countered with a 16-3 run to neutralize the Hawks, 90-83, with about three minutes left to play, but were unable to convert on any more of their attempts, falling by a final of 16.

Union shot 38.5% (30-78) from the field while Hartwick went 38-68 (55.9%) on its home floor. Junior forward Marc du Moulin was the high rebounder for the Hawks totaling nine this contest to go with seven points.

The Dutchmen are idle until November 28 when they host Cobleskill at 4 PM at the Viniar Athletic Center in the Sig Makofski Tournament. Eastern Conn. plays Williams at 2 PM and the consolation and championship will be November 29.