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ONEONTA, N.Y. - Host Hartwick grabbed a two-point halftime lead before pulling away in the final 20 minutes to defeat Nazareth, 86-77, in a key Empire 8 Conference men's basketball game at Lambros Arena.

The Golden Flyers, playing in their final regular-season road game, dropped to 13-8 overall and 9-3 in the Empire 8 as they battle with Hartwick and St. John Fisher for the top three spots in the league. Hartwick avenged an earlier loss to the Golden Flyers and maintained its hold on first place in the E8 standings with an 11-2 conference record and an overall mark of 16-6. The loss was the second in a row for the Golden Flyers after a five-game winning streak. Nazareth closes the regular season with four straight home games, starting with Alfred and Elmira Friday and Saturday respectively.

Sophomore Tyler Stenglein scored a game-high 24 points, but couldn't offset the Hawks, who had five players in double figures, including Matt Wilson, who combined 23 points with 13 rebounds. The Hawks all night bottled up Mitch Ford the conference's top scorer and rebounder who was held to 10 points on 2-for-15 shooting.

In a see-saw first half, Hartwick was up as many as seven points and Nazareth by four before the Hawks settled for a 38-36 lead at the break. Stenglein scored 12 of his points in the first half to keep Nazareth close, but Ford was held without a field goal.

Jake Sinicki and Matt Wilson each scored 10 first-half points for Hartwick. It was Sinicki's second three-point basket of the half with :11 left that gave Hartwick a 38-36 advantage. Nazareth had the last shot before halftime, but Jack Mulcahy misfired from three-point range as time expired.

Nazareth stayed close in the second half, but Hartwick never trailed. Nazareth was within five, 60-55, following a free throw by Brendan Wind with 8:45 left. Hartwick, however, scored the next seven points -- a basket by Wilson, a three-pointer by Justin Pratt and a jumper by Trevor Norton -- to push the lead to double digits at 67-55 with less than seven minutes to play. Nazareth never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Stenglein's points came on 10-for-17 shooting. Ford had 11 rebounds to go with his 10 points. Maurice Mills had nine points and 15 rebounds and Wind scored eight points and passed for a career-high 10 assists.

Sinicki scored 20 points in addition to Wilson's 23. Norton had 15, Pratt 14 and Brandon LaForest 12.