UTICA, NY – The SUNYIT men's basketball team finally got a win on the board, defeating Penn State Abington 90-68 Sunday after suffering a 100-98 loss in overtime to Penn State Berks on Saturday. The Wildcats are now 1-1 in the NEAC and 1-5 overall.
The Wildcats opened with 10 unanswered points in the first five minutes of action against Berks and would hold a 14-point lead with 6:51 left before the break, but Berks would go on a 17-3 run over the next four minutes to tie the game at 37 all. A 9-4 run from there by SUNYIT would give the Wildcats a four-point lead at intermission, 46-42.
The game would be tied again five minutes into the second half before Berks would outscore SUNYIT 28-16 over the next nine minutes of play to be up 12, 77-65. SUNYIT would answer, using a 16-3 run to take the lead back, 81-80, with 3:43 left to play. Berks would build its lead back up to six but the Wildcats would rally again, tying the game at 89 on a layup by senior Kevin Cappiello (Youngsville, NY/Sullivan West) with 46 seconds to go, and the game would head into overtime after neither team could score on their final possession.
Overtime would see the sixth tie of the contest when the game was knotted at 95 with 1:04 left to play. After Cappiello went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line, Berks would score on its next two possessions while SUNYIT only converted two points on its next two tries, turning the ball over on its final possession before being forced to foul. Berks would then ice the game at the charity stripe to seal the win.
Senior Calvin Logins (Lyons, NY/Keuka College) finished with a game-high 31 points to go along with a team-best 11 rebounds and four steals, while junior Clint Foster (Candor, NY/North County CC) nailed seven 3-pointers and finished with 23 points in addition to seven rebounds. Senior Kevin Cappiello (Youngsville, NY/Sullivan West) registered 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals and sophomore Justin Brignola (Clifton Park, NY/The Sage Colleges) added 10 points.
The Wildcats were able to bounce back from that loss by coming out on fire against Berks Sunday, jumping out to a 15-4 lead within the first four minutes of the contest and never looking back. They would roll into halftime with a 46-35 advantage and go on to build their lead by as much as 29 points in the second half before picking up the 22-point victory and snap their four-game losing streak.
Logins again led all scorers with 28 points, while Cappiello recorded a triple-double with 10 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds to go along with a game-high four steals. Foster hit four 3-pointers to finish with 12 points, while Brignola registered 11 points and three steals.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Wednesday when they host conference rival Cazenovia College at the Campus Center Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
The event will also be the site of Faculty/Staff & Family Night, where pizza, wings and soft drinks will be served for SUNYIT faculty, staff and families in the conference room of the Athletics Office at 6:30 pm. Additionally, Jerry Kraus, the PR/Development Director at Stevens-Swan Humane Society and formerly "Dr. Rock" at WOUR Radio, will be the guest announcer for the night. Can or bags of dog and/or cat food will be collected at the door for donation to Stevens-Swan Humane Society as well.