It was a good day for Geneseo basketball on Tuesday at Schrader Gym, as the men's and women's teams hosted their respective foes from SUNYIT, winning both games handily.
The men extended their modest winning streak to three games in an 87-77 shootout, while the women used suffocating defense to defeat the Wildcats 59-47.
On the men's side, the Knights came out shooting and never looked back. Junior guard Scott Morton continued his recent tear, pouring in 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting. Morton also dished out 10 assists, pulled down six rebounds and collected six steals in a phenomenal all-around performance.
"[Scott] is an all-conference player," said coach Steve Minton.
It was Morton who put the exclamation point on the victory, slamming home a two-handed dunk with 46 seconds left. The Knights were also aided by a double-double from senior forward Tarik Kitson, who scored 22 points to complement his 10 boards, helping the team improve to 14-6 this season.
A frightening moment occurred at the 12:34 mark of the second half, when senior guard Joe Kling was blindsided by a screen and fell hard to the floor. After remaining down for several minutes, Kling walked to the locker room under his own power, but did not return.
"We hope he's going to be all right," said Minton. "We'll take it day-by-day."
Whereas the men won an offensive-minded contest, the women's team defeated SUNYIT with a stellar defensive effort, holding the Wildcats to 47 points on just 16-of-64 shooting from the field.
Following a sloppy first half in which each team scored just 21 points, the Knights ignited their offense, going on a 10-0 run to begin the second half. Sophomore Khadija Campbell led four Geneseo players in double figures, scoring 12 points to go along with her 11 rebounds. Junior forward Tracy Wangelin came off the bench to add nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.
"Tracy could be starting for a lot of teams in the conference," said coach Scott Hemer in a testament to the roster depth on a women's team that has won seven of their last eight games to lift their record to 9-11.
The men and women go on the road to Oswego and Morrisville this weekend, hoping to build momentum with the SUNYACs fast approaching.