MIDDLETOWN, PA – The SUNYIT men's basketball team's quest for its third straight NEAC Championship fell short with a 73-69 loss to the Wells College Express in the tournament semifinals, which was held at Penn State Harrisburg Saturday.  The Wildcats finished the season 14-11 overall.

In what has been a common theme between these two teams whenever they square off over the past few seasons, this matchup was close throughout all 40 minutes of action, as no team lead by more than seven at any point in the contest.  Wells struck first, jumping out to a seven-point lead three minutes into the contest and would still hold that much of an advantage four minutes later.  An 18-10 run by SUNYIT over the next eight minutes got the Wildcats right back in the contest, giving them a one-point, 27-26 lead with 5:19 left in the half.  The Wildcats would eventually go into the break up two, 39-37.

The Wildcats would push their lead up to seven points three minutes into the second half and would still be up seven with 10:34 remaining.  Wells would rally this time, going on a 17-6 run over the next nine minutes to go up 70-66 with 55 seconds to play, but junior Julian Bostick (Utica, NY/Herkimer County CC) would nail a three on SUNYIT's next possession to cut the lead down to one with 30 seconds to go.  After Terry Harrison hit two free throws to put the Express back up three, senior David Golembiowski (Barneveld, NY/Holland Patent) would miss a 3-point attempt in the closing seconds and possession would go back to Wells, which would force SUNYIT to foul.  Dave Folz would then hit one of his two free throw attempts to seal the win and propel Wells to the championship contest.

Golembiowski finished 10-of-15 from the field and scored a game-high 27 points in addition to grabbing nine rebounds and blocking four shots.  Senior Kevin Cappiello (Youngsville, NY/Sullivan West) registered 10 points, six boards and four assists, while fellow classmate Calvin Logins (Lyons, NY/Keuka College) totaled seven points and five rebounds.

Andre Sawyers scored 18 points for Wells, while Harrison finished with 15 points and Benito Perez added 14 points.

The Express, who have lost the previous two championship contests against SUNYIT, will now take on top seed and host Penn State Harrisburg for the title tomorrow at 1:00 pm.