Saints Drop Thoroughbreds, Earn Share of Regular Season Crown

by: 

Tara Freeman

Senior captain Josh Sharlow posted a team-high 18 points and a game-high four assists.

Feb. 19:  Leading by merely six points at half time Friday night, the St. Lawrence men's basketball team put on an impressive performance in the second frame, taking down conference opponent Skidmore College, 83-65 in the Burkman Gymnasium.  The Saints have clinched a share of the Liberty League regular season championship and will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with a win on Saturday.

The Saints improve to a 13-11(9-4) overall record, while the Thoroughbreds fall to a 15-9 (8-5) mark.

Senior captain Josh Sharlow led the Scarlet and Brown with 18 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the arc, followed closely by Co-captain Andy Hoercher who earned 14 points off 6-of-10 shooting.  Sophomore Ralph Temgoua racked up a game-high nine rebounds, while Sharlow posted a game-high four assists.  Skidmore's Jon Douglas had a big night, earning a game-high 19 points to surpass his 1000^th career point.  Teammate Kyle Clark followed with 12 points off 5-of-9 shooting and totaled a team-high eight rebounds.  Terron Victoria posted a game-high four steals and four assists, while Jeff Altimar followed suit with four assists as well.

Both teams battled point for point in the opening five minutes of the first half, with the lead changing five times.  However, with 14:57 on the clock, sophomore Garrett Sharlow chipped one in from underneath to spark an 8-0 run for the Saints, marking the score 21-13.  St. Lawrence was able to hold onto this advantage, thanks to consistent shooting from first-year Jack Conboy and Josh Sharlow.  However, with 7:03 on the clock the Thoroughbreds cut the deficit to two off a layup from Clark and a free-throw from Raoul Oloa.  Yet, it wasn't long before the Saints moved back ahead due to a solid three-pointer from Hoercher.  Both teams went scoreless for roughly the next two minutes, but Hoercher finally broke the streak with an easy jumper (32-25).  The last minutes of the half fared well for the Thoroughbreds as a three from Douglas and two foul-shots from Sakhile Sithole brought them within four as the clock ran out (36-32).

The Saints picked up a lot of momentum into the second frame, and although Skidmore was able to cut the deficit to one in the opening four minutes, that being the closest they got to erasing the deficit, they were unable to tie the score.  St. Lawrence responded by extending their lead to 12 (54-42) thanks mainly to three three-pointers from Josh Sharlow.  The Saints never allowed Skidmore to break its double-digit advantage again.  St. Lawrence continued to increase its margin, earning a 17 point lead (69-52) with 7:26 left in regulation, due to solid shooting from junior Ben Araya, Garrett Sharlow, and sophomore Terry Parham.  The Thoroughbreds managed to climb back to within 12 points of the Saints when the clock his 4:23, but that was as close as they came to matching the score.  St. Lawrence worked ahead by 18 points (77-61) with just over a minute left in the game.  An easy layup and a pair of free-throws from Clark put Skidmore within 15 points of its opponent, but the consistency of the Saints' bench players handed St. Lawrence the 83-65 win.

The Saints will take on Union College, tomorrow, February 20^th in the Burkman Gymnasium.  Tip-off is set for 4:00 pm.