Top 10 basketball showdown looms after Herkimer College sweeps Adirondack
HERKIMER — A pair of blowout victories over SUNY-Adirondack Wednesday prepared the Herkimer College men and women for Saturday’s basketball showdown with nationally ranked squads from Onondaga Community College.
The Herkimer women ran their record to 7-2 with a 77-26 win in Wednesday’s opener before the unbeaten men, the top-ranked team in Division III of the NJCAA, rolled to a 93-58 victory over their winless guests.
Up next is the Saturday afternoon doubleheader against Onondaga.
The men play first with the Generals carrying an 8-0 mark into their 1 p.m. game against the once-beaten and sixth-ranked Lazers (8-1), who shook off their first loss of the season against North Country Community College and won at Hudson Valley Community College Wednesday.
Herkimer and Onondaga have held the top two spots in the Region III rankings with the Generals taking the No. 1 spot for Week 3 in a poll that had the teams tied for the top spot to start the season.
The Onondaga women are 5-2 following their Wednesday win and hold the No. 8 spot in the national rankings along with No. 1 in the region. Herkimer has been as high as No. 10 nationally this season and is currently listed as receiving votes outside the top 15.
In Herkimer Wednesday, sophomore Kapri Bradshaw posted her second consecutive 29-point game and led the women to a second straight win. Herkimer led 22-5 after the first quarter and never surrendered the lead while holding Adirondack (3-5) to single-digit scoring in each quarter. Bradshaw added eight steals while Ajla Sedjic scored 12 points, Taylor Smith scored nine, and Jenna Faulkner had six points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.
Alexa Abbatantuono led Adirondack with seven points.
For the men, Herkimer needed only 7½ minutes to open a double-digit lead, and the Generals were up 53-19 at halftime. The margin was as wide as 48 points in the second half.
Jayden Stephens scored 18 points for the Generals, while Keyshawn Miller and Chris Volo each added 17 and Shykell Brown had 14. Twelve players got in on the scoring.
Antowan Holmes scored 18 points for Adirondack (0-9) with 12 coming in the second half.
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More: Herkimer College men top NJCAA Division III basketball poll; women's team ranked 10th
Women
HERKIMER COLLEGE 77, SUNY-ADIRONDACK 26
SUNY-ADIRONDACK (3-5) – Caroline Laniewski 2 0-0 4; Jessalyn Tennant 1 1-2 3; Kaitlyn Kramar 1 0-0 3; Morgan Drouin 0 0-0 0; Shantall Sweet 2 1-1 5; Alexa Abbatantuono 3 1-2 7; Anika Parnell 0 0-0 0; Kristen Paravella 2 0-0 4; Kailyn Sroka 0 0-2 0. Totals: 11 3-7 26.
HERKIMER COLLEGE (7-2) – Kapri Bradshaw 11 6-10 29; Taya Yacobucci 0 0-0 0; Ajla Sedjic 4 2-2 12; Monica Hartlieb 1 0-0 2; Jenna Faulkner 3 0-0 6; Alexandra Mosqueda 2 0-0 6; Taylor Smith 4 0-0 9; Nazjae Howard 3 1-2 7; Alexis Upson 2 0-1 4; Lynn Wright 1 0-0 2. Totals: 31 9-15 77.
SUNY-Adirondack 5 6 8 7 – 26
Herkimer College 22 13 25 17 – 77
Three-pointers – SUNY-Adirondack 1 (Kramar 1); Herkimer College 6 (Mosqueda 2, Sedjic 2, Bradshaw 1, Smith 1).
Men
HERKIMER COLLEGE 93, SUNY-ADIRONDACK 58
SUNY-ADIRONDACK (0-9) – Victor Roca 4 0-0 8; William Mason 3 0-0 8; Jaden Wheatley 2 1-2 6; Jai-Mere Burford 3 0-0 7; Wilton Gomez 3 0-0 8; Antowan Holmes 5 8-10 18; Tahlik Griffith 0 3-4 3; Matthew Richards 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 12-16 58
HERKIMER COLLEGE (8-0) – Jayden Stephens 5 8-9 18; Mecca McCullough 3 1-4 7; Shykell Brown 5 0-0 14; Avion Harris 1 0-0 2; Keyshawn Miller 7 1-1 17; Zyeir Lawrence 2 0-1 4; John Harrison 1 0-0 2; PJ Asare 3 0-2 6; Chris Volo 8 1-2 17; Raffael Berhe 1 0-0 2; Tavon Bates 1 0-0 2; Eddy Pena 1 0-1 2. Totals: 38 11-20 93.
Halftime – Herkimer College 53, SUNY-Adirondack 19. Three-pointers – SUNY-Adirondack 6 (Gomez 2, Mason 2, Burford 1, Wheatley 1); Herkimer College 6 (Brown 4, Miller 2).
Jon Rathbun is a sportswriter for the Times Telegram. Email Jon at sports@timestelegram.com.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Herkimer College basketball sweeps Adirondack, set ups top 10 showdown
