Seven Double-Digit Scorers Contribute to 99-80 Victory Over Union

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Feb. 6: The St. Lawrence University men's basketball team extended their winning streak to five Friday night as the Saints were able to use a strong second half to lift themselves past Union College 99-80 in Liberty League action in Burkman Gymnasium.

St. Lawrence improves to a 15-4 overall record and an 8-1 conference mark, while the Dutchmen fall to 11-8 and 4-5 in the Liberty League. The Scarlet and Brown remain tied for first place with Hamilton College in the conference standings.

Leading the Saints was senior captain Rich Williams (Kingston, NY/Kingston), who amassed 16 points and five assists to pace the offense. Classmates and captains Bela Vonnak (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie) and Tom Wopperer (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) each had 11 points, while Wopperer also added five helpers and a steal to the cause. Junior Josh Sharlow (Norwood, NY/Norwood-Norfolk) tallied 14 points off 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, including 3-for-4 from three-point land, while also grabbing five boards. The rookie class of Garrett Sharlow (Massena, NY/Massena Central), Ralph Temgoua (Paris, France/Deerfield Academy) and Terry Parham (Petersburg, VA/Indian River) combined for 34 points and 16 rebounds, with Temgoua collecting a team high eight rebounds. Both Sharlow and Temgoua chipped in 12 points, while Parham knocked in 10, all in the second half.

The first half witnessed four lead changes and six ties, including two in the final minutes. The teams traded control of the contest early on before Union jumped out to a seven-point edge (20-13) with 12:52 still to play in the frame. The Saints scored eight unanswered points in just over 90 seconds to regain the lead, 21-20, with 11:17 left on the clock.

Another three from Sharlow half a minute later erased the tie Union had created off a free throw, giving St. Lawrence control of the scoreboard, 24-21. The Dutchmen made back-to-back layups to earn a one-point lead (26-25), but the Saints had gained momentum and quickly found themselves ahead 35-29 after scoring five straight points. Union knotted things up twice more and it seemed the squads would share a 43-43 game heading into halftime but a three-pointer by Wopperer at the buzzer gave the Scarlet and Brown a 46-43 edge to energize them for the second half.

Union continued to press in the opening minutes of the second period, getting as close as one before a 9-0 St. Lawrence run gave the home team their first double-digit lead of the game. Despite Union making it a two-possession game once more in the half, the Saints continued to penetrate in the paint and increase their score off several key three-point plays, earning as much as a 24-point difference (92-68, 4:02) to put the game away.

The Scarlet and Brown used 64.5-percent shooting in the last stanza and contained a Union offense that shot 53.1 percent in the first half to only 41.4 in the second to win the game. The Saints out-rebounded the Dutchmen 39-29.

Leading Union was Drew Desmarais, who scored a game-high 27 points, while teammates Nick Ciresi added 17 and Steve Madej contributed 14.

The Saints will host Skidmore College in more conference action on Saturday, February 7th. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00pm.