Box Score Box
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Nazareth finished the last seven minutes of Friday night's Empire 8 men's basketball game with a 19-7 scoring run to lift the visiting Golden Flyers over Ithaca 76-64. Sophomore Maurice Mills tallied 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in Nazareth's victory.

With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 14-6 overall and 7-3 in Empire 8 games. With the loss, the Bombers drop to 6-15 overall and 1-9 in conference games. Nazareth's victory gave the Golden Flyers their seventh win in their last eight games, and it snapped Ithaca's two-game winning streak. Nazareth currently stands in third place in the conference standings, a half-game behind Stevens and Hartwick, who both have 8-3 Empire 8 records. Alfred is fourth at 6-3, while St. John Fisher is fifth at 6-5.

Nazareth led 38-32 after halftime but Ithaca scored the first seven points out of the break to take its first lead of the game 1:19 into the second period. The contest remained within six points throughout most of the second half. Senior Scott Hayford's layup with 57 seconds to play in regulation extended the Golden Flyers' lead to 71-64, then classmate Jack Giles converted all four of his free throw opportunities in a span of 11 seconds to provide Nazareth with a double-digit lead. The Golden Flyers held the Bombers scoreless for the last two and a half minutes and to only one field goal in the final 6:30 to secure the victory.

Following Ithaca's 7-0 run to open the second stanza, there were eight lead changes and seven ties as the teams traded scores. The Golden Flyers took the lead for good following a three-point play by Mills, which gave Nazareth a 60-57 edge. After a Bombers' basket, Brad Ford connected on a pair of free throws and freshman Josh Gillard made a three-pointer to put Nazareth up 65-59 with roughly six minutes to play. The closest Ithaca came was three points, 67-64, before Mills and Hayford each scored on layups to give the Golden Flyers a 71-64 lead with 57 seconds to play in regulation.

In the first half, Nazareth never trailed as Brad Ford made the first shot of the game. The Golden Flyers stretched their lead to 10 points, 14-4, and a game-high 16 points, 35-19, before settling for the six-point advantage at halftime. Following his opening basket, Ford connected on two shots from outside the arc, Mitch Ford recorded a pair of two-point jumpers, Giles made his first three-point shot of the game, and Mills added a free throw to build the Golden Flyers' initial lead. Ithaca closed the half with a 13-3 scoring run over the final 3:20 of the period to cut their deficit.

Brad Ford finished with a team-high 21 points, followed by Giles with 20 points. Additionally, Mitch Ford and Hayford recorded seven points and six points, respectively. Giles and Hayford also combined for seven assists to help ignite Nazareth's offense. Thanks to Mills' game-high 16 rebounds, the Golden Flyers had a 43-42 edge on the glass. Mills had seven offensive boards to continue Nazareth possessions. Brad Ford also had nine rebounds.

Frank Mitchell tallied a game-high 25 points for the Bombers. Keefe Gitto finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Golden Flyers' stingy defense held Ithaca to 9-32 (28 percent) shooting from the field in the second half. The Bombers stayed in the game by converting 20-25 (80 percent) of their free throws.

Nazareth returns to the Kidera Gymnasium on Saturday to host Houghton in a non-conference game at 2 p.m.