Despite not having guard senior Connor Fedge, the men’s basketball team pulled out an upset victory over No. 20 Morrisville State College 89-82 on Tuesday Nov. 20. Junior Gordon Lyons, the leading scorer from the 2012-2013 season, fittingly led the team with 22 points. The Knights distributed the ball very well; five different players scored in double figures, including forward senior Jordan Jones, who had 12 points. Jones played all but two minutes for the Knights.
“We’re always trying to get the best shot,” Lyons said. “No one is really concerned about points … Everyone’s just concerned about someone scoring”
After leading by just three points at halftime, the Knights came out of the locker room playing aggressively, opening with a 20-7 run through the first five minutes of the half. A three-pointer from guard junior Andy Drescher and a dunk from Jones highlighted the big run. Lyons had eight of the Knights’ 20 points in the first five minutes of the half.
“We came out pretty hot in the second half and blew it open,” Lyons said.
Sloppy play from the Mustangs certainly helped Geneseo. Toward the end of the second-half run, Morrisville head coach Joseph Smith was charged with a technical foul for yelling at the referees. Forward junior James McKenna made both subsequent free throws for Geneseo.
That moment turned out to be a big turning point for the Mustangs. After the technical, Morrisville went on a 28-16 run, which cut the Knights lead to four with less than four minutes to play.
“We were letting them get easy baskets,” Lyons said. “We just settled down and didn’t play as hard.”
Forward senior Matt Curry had a 3-pointer with 3:18 remaining, helping the Knights hold on to a seven-point victory. Despite the close call, Lyons is happy about the way the team played together throughout the night.
“I feel like we’re very unselfish; we always pass the ball,” he said.
For the foreseeable future, the Knights will be without Fedge, who suffered a stress fracture in his right foot.
Fedge’s absence meant that the Knights relied heavily on their bench, which contributed 25 points.
But Lyons said the team is pretty deep, echoing the sentiment of head coach Steve Minton.
Luckily for the Knights, they will get even deeper when Fedge returns. He is supposed to return before the Wendy’s College Classic tournament. If that timetable holds, Fedge would miss only one more game. Geneseo opens the Wendy’s College Classic on Dec. 4 in Rochester.