Merchant Marine-St. Lawrence Box Score
St. Lawrence-St. John Fisher Box Score
Two tight games opened the play on day two of the Chuck Resler Tournament on Saturday with the US Merchant Marine Academy (men) and St. Lawrence University (women) capturing third place in the opening four team tournaments hosted by the U of R.
Frankie Wiseley hit a buzzer beater layup as time expired to lead Merchant Marine Academy to a 71-69 win over St. Lawrence in the consolation game of the men's tournament. Reed Buck paced the Mariners (1-1) with 19 points and four rebounds while teammate Andrew Williams chipped in 12 points and three boards.
USMMA got off to a quick start jumping out to a 10-2 lead but the Saints (0-2) clawed their way back and took the lead seven minutes in at 12-11. St. Lawrence would get its lead up to 11 after a Kyle Miller three pointer with 8:30 left in the half. Merchant Marine would get back into by halftime with the lead shrinking to just four at 40-36.
In the second half, Buck was big for the Mariners providing 11 points. Big man Nick Sergio also had a great second half with seven points and seven rebounds. For the game, Miller finished with 13 points and Tell Whilte had 14 and five rebounds for the Saints. Both Buck and Miller were named to the All-Tournament Team.
More drama occurred in the second of the consolation games with the St. Lawrence women edging out an 80-77 win over St. John Fisher. The Cardinals (0-2) had a chance to tie at the buzzer, but Sydney Bloomstein's three pointer was off target.
Leading the Saints was sophomore Kara McDuffee who finished with a career high 24 points and six rebounds. McDuffee was on fire in the first half from distance as she hit six three pointers. Portia Velasco led the cardinals with 23 points while teammate Camaryn Buckner ended with 22 points and five boards.
The Saints (1-1) were up big in the first half, building a lead that got as big as 16 7:41 in, but the Cardinals refused to give up and got back into it, eventually taking a one point lead with 3:34 remaining in the first period.
The game remained tight the rest of the way with St. John Fisher getting a three point lead as late as 3:14 remaining, but some clutch baskets by Lauren Quattrocchi helped SLU regain the advantage and hold on. All five Saints starters finished with double digit scoring nights as the game was played at a very high tempo pace.
McDuffee and Velasco were chosen as All-Tournament Team selections.
