ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Union College men's basketball team fought off a late comeback attempt by Hartwick College to start its 2018-19 season with a hard-fought 67-64 victory in non-conference action at Lambros Arena on Friday night.
 
Sophomore Jackson Mannix led Union (1-0) to the win with a career-best 19 points, hitting 5-of-7 shots from beyond the arc. Freshman Mike Concannon had a double-double in his collegiate debut, netting 17 points and grabbing 10 boards to go with six assists, while sophomore Temi George also had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
 
Union started the game and the year well thanks to back-to-back threes from Concannon and Mannix that put the visitors up early, and the Dutchmen never relinquished that lead throughout the opening 20 minutes. Hartwick got within a point on three occasions, but Union repelled every advance and built the lead up to as many as 14 after Mannix capped a 9-2 run with a bucket that put Union up 36-22 with 2:06 on the clock.
 
Union turned the ball over just twice in a very clean first half, which saw the visitors shoot 42.4 percent (14 for 33) from the field. Mannix led all players with 13 points at the break, followed by Concannon with nine.
 
The Dutchmen bumped their advantage back up to 14 points twice in the second half, but Hartwick slowly chipped away at the deficit, eventually getting the lead down to one point at 56-55 with 5:13 remaining. A big three from Mannix and a transition bucket from George put Union back up by six (63-57) with 2:53 left.
 
The visitors led by only one point entering the final 45 seconds, but the Dutchmen forced a difficult shot and Concannon grabbed the rebound before sinking two clutch free throws to put Union up 67-64 with 13 seconds remaining. Needing one last stop, the defense stepped up and forced a wild last-second chance that hit off the back iron.
 
Union finished the game shooting 43.1 percent (25 for 58) from the field, including a 10-of-21 mark (47.6 percent) from beyond the arc. The Dutchmen limited Hartwick to 33.3 percent (22 for 66) shooting from the field in the win.
 
Union will take the next two weeks off before returning to action after Thanksgiving, when the Dutchmen host the annual Sig Makofski Invitational on November 24-25. Union takes on Northern Vermont University-Lyndon on day one beginning at 4 p.m. in the second game of the day.