Team Effort Leads To 74-53 Men’s Basketball Victory

AURORA, N.Y. – Fifteen different players played at least nine minutes for the Wells College men's basketball team en route to a 74-53 non-conference victory over the Pioneers of Alfred State College Tuesday evening. With the victory, Wells boosts their record to 4-8 overall. The Pioneers drop to 1-15 on the season.

Senior Jonathan Hurtado (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led all Wells players with 13 points on the evening, tallying six rebounds to tie for the team lead. Sophomore Jordan Bishop (Arlington, Texas) struck for a season-high 11 points off the bench, converting 6-for-10 from the foul line. Junior Erich Kaempffe (North Rose, N.Y.) and freshman James Feocco (Auburn, N.Y.) set season-high marks for scoring with six and eight points, respectively.

Wells never trailed in the contest, eventually building up a second half lead of 35 total points with 12:59 left in regulation time. Cumulatively, Wells shot 37.3% for the game (25-for-67) and poured home seven three-point baskets for the third time in 2013-14. In the first half alone, Wells shot 40% (14-for-35) to counter the 20.8% effort from the Pioneers (5-for-24) to help build a 41-20 halftime advantage.

Trailing by six, 13-7, with only 12:54 remaining in the first half, Wells utilized two three-point baskets by Kaempffe in partnership with two EZ Garcia (Cotulla, Texas) free throws to build a 14 point lead, 23-9, with 11:15 remaining in the opening stanza. An Al Paul (Elmont, N.Y.) three-point basket with 6:21 remaining opened up a 32-13 lead and Wells went on to carry a 21 point lead into the half.

The Express put the game away for good in the second half, scoring 14-straight points while holding Alfred State scoreless for the second half's first seven-plus minutes of action. A jump shot by Bishop with 12:59 opened up the game's largest lead at 55-20 in favor of the host Express. In the second half alone, the Express bench outscored the Alfred State bench by a 25-to-18 margin and Wells did not allow any points off of turnovers, instead countering to score 11 points off of Pioneers miscues.

Tavon Moore led the way for Alfred State, scoring nine points in 18 minutes of action. Donnie Stevenson pulled down six rebounds in only eight minutes of work for the Pioneers, the team-high in that category. Jared Bard assisted three baskets while Tommy Hutson and Adam Fezza each recorded two takeaways in the loss.

The Express return to action this Friday, Jan. 17 as they host the Chargers of Lancaster Bible College in a 6:00 p.m. contest within the Farenthold Athletic Wing.