Vonnak Reaches 1,000 Career Points; Saints Defeat Heidelberg, 90-79

Senior captain Bela Vonnak tallied his 1,000th career point and
classmate and captain Tom Wopperer posted a perfect first half to help
guide the Saints to a 90-79 win over Heidelberg Saturday afternoon in
the consolation game of the 2009 Buffalo State Holiday Inn Invite, held
at the Buffalo State Sports Complex in Buffalo, NY.

The Saints captured their fifth victory of the season and improved to a
5-3 mark while the Student Princes fell to a 4-7 overall record.

Wopperer (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) shot 4-for-4 from the
field, 1-for-1 from three-point land and 2-for-2 from the line in the
first 20 minutes en route to putting up a team high 18 points, while
rookie Terry Parham (Petersburg, VA/Indian River) continued to have an
impressive weekend as he posted 17 points while collecting three
rebounds and three assists. Vonnak (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie)
tallied 14 points to reach 1,0001 career points and fellow captain and
classmate Richard Williams (Kingston, NY/Kingston) added 11 to St.
Lawrence’s offensive efforts, as did junior Josh Sharlow (Norwood,
NY/Norwood-Norfolk), who also captured five boards, a game high seven
steals, and three assists.

St. Lawrence took early control of the contest thanks to impressive
shooting from the field and never looked back as their early lead
quickly grew into double digits less than five minutes into the game
after Sharlow knocked in a shot from three point range. The Saints
fended off a strong offensive effort on the part of Heidelberg, as they
attempted to shave away St. Lawrence’s lead. The Saints earned another
double-digit advantage with a three from Wopperer at 9:32 to give the
Scarlet and Brown a 24-13 edge and maintained their comfortable lead
throughout the remainder of the half. St. Lawrence was ahead by as
much as 15 points before the Student Princes scored five unanswered
points to close the period with the scoreboard reading 40-30 in favor
of the Saints.

Guided by Wopperer’s perfect first half, the Scarlet and Brown shot
just over 53-percent in the opening frame while containing Heidelberg
to just under 42-percent. St. Lawrence out-rebounded their opponent
20-15 in the first 20 minutes of play with rookies Ralph Temgoua
(Paris, France/Deerfield Academy) and Garrett Sharlow (Massena,
NY/Massena Central) grabbing six and five boards, respectively.

Wopperer opened the second half with a three to increase the Saints’
cushion to 13, but the Student Princes made it a three possession game
in the first two minutes, posting five quick points to get within eight
of St. Lawrence, 43-35, with 18:02 to go. The Saints continued to make
shot after shot as their lead rapidly ballooned to a game-high 22
points (77-55) with 7:10 remaining in regulation with the help of
Parham, who had an incredible 15 points in the second half alone, and
Vonnak, who was 4-for-4 from the field.

Despite the deficit, Heidelberg persevered and found themselves within
nine once again (83-74) with 2:43 on the clock after the Saints were
plagued with a short stint of fouls and failed attempts. But St.
Lawrence was nearly perfect down the final stretch and made 5-of-6 free
throws to maintain their advantage and hold off any last second efforts
by the Student Princes to claim the 90-79 victory.

St. Lawrence scored 30 points off the bench in the second half and shot
60-percent from the field, while Heidelberg was 16-for-42 from the
floor to average just under 40-percent for the game. The Scarlet and
Brown forced Heidelberg to take shots from the perimeter and scored 60
points from inside the paint, while the Student Princes only tallied
32.

Guiding Heidelberg was Smalley, who tallied a game-high 19 points,
while teammates Jake Hessey and Travis Kinn had 16 points apiece.

St. Lawrence will travel to Oswego State on Tuesday, January 6th for a
non-conference contest with the Lakers. Tip-off is scheduled for
8:00pm in Oswego, NY.