Courtesy of UofRAthletics.com
Ryan Algier scored the go-ahead basket on an alley-oop from Ross Gang with five seconds to play to give No. 10 University of Rochester a 72-70 win over 13th-ranked Middlebury College on Sunday in their second game of the UAA/NESCAC Challenge inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
A battle of two top-15 foes did not disappoint, as the Panthers and Yellowjackets traded blows throughout the contest with many tense moments down the stretch.
Dan Masino got the scoring started in the opening frame with his floater off Algier’s assist 24 seconds into the first half. Rochester quickly jumped out to an early lead, as they never trailed throughout the contest.
Gang’s layup 32 seconds later quickly made it 4-0, before Algier’s scored his first of three alley-oops from Gang to make it a six-point lead.
Jaden Bobbett finally got the visiting squad on the scoreboard with his driving layup with 17:55 remaining in the first, but Mitchell Kershner answered with a three on the other end to make it 9-2 in favor of Rochester.
The Panthers made their way back though, cutting UR’s lead to just one on Sam Steven’s and-one opportunity, making it an 11-10 Yellowjacket lead with 13:04 left in the first.
A three-pointer from Matt Niemczura and a hook shot from Gang brought the ‘Jackets’ lead back out to five, before back-to-back layups from Matt Wiele and Algier made it an eight-point UR lead.
The Yellowjackets then took their largest lead of the first half on Andrew Jackson’s triple with 8:49 to play, but back-to-back three-point plays by Alex Sobel and Sam Stevens on the next two Middlebury possessions cut the deficit to four, 24-20.
Another three-point play from Sobel would make it a one-point game just three minutes later, as the Panthers turned an eight-point deficit into just one, but again Rochester responded.
Algier scored his fifth and sixth points of the afternoon, and Wiele followed with two free throws to extend UR’s lead back to five. Algier then knocked a triple, bringing UR’s lead back out to eight heading into the final minutes of the first half.
Bobbett would add one more score for Middlebury before the sides went quiet over the final 1:44, heading into halftime with Rochester out in front, 35-29.
UR quickly made it a double-digit lead to start the second half, and led by as many as 12 with 10:48 to play.
Algier opened the second half with another alley-oop from Gang, as the graduate student scored six of the Yellowjackets’ first eight points of the second half.
Up by four following Sobel’s layup, Rochester used an 8-0 run to take a 51-39 lead, highlighted by C.J. Amsellem’s second three-pointer and Niemczura’s three-point play.
And though Charley Moore would pull Middlebury within seven, the ‘Jackets would again take a 12-point, 58-46 lead with 10:48 to play, thanks to a 7-2 run with five different Yellowjackets scoring.
But over the next 2:21, Middlebury would hold UR without a bucket, as Noah Osher’s four-point play started an 8-0 run to pull the Panthers within a possession, 58-55.
Both teams then got a pair of stops, before a foul by Jackson McKersie sent Wiele to the free-throw line. The junior hit them both, giving Rochester a five-point, 60-55 advantage, before Osher again found the bottom, cutting UR’s lead to three.
Amsellem then knocked down another three, his second of the night, putting the ‘Jackets up six with just over six minutes remaining.
Down the stretch, offense would come at a premium, as UR and Middlebury combined to score just 18 points over the final six minutes.
Sobel answered Amsellem’s three with a layup, but two more Wiele free throws brought Rochester’s lead back out to six, 65-59, with 4:20 to play.
But after Evan Flaks scored on the fastbreak, the Panthers got a stop, and David Brennan scored a layup off an offensive rebound to make it a two-point game.
However, Brennan missed the free throw to cut it to one, and out of Rochester timeout, Masino hit a clutch three with the shot clock winding down to make it a two-possession game with 2:11 remaining.
Osher responded with a jumper to pull Middlebury within three before two Sobel free throws made it a one-point game with 38 seconds left. The Panthers fouled Algier on the ensuing possession, and the forward calmly sank both free throws to put UR up three.
Middlebury would tie the score on the ensuing possession, as Sobel connected on a three-point play to even the score for the first time all game, but Gang found Algier for another alley-oop, giving Rochester a two-point advantage with 5.6 to play.
Down two, the Panthers raced downcourt and Osher’s potential game-winning three was on-target but fell short, and an offensive goaltending gave UR the ball and on the inbounds play, the victory.
Rochester moves to 7-1 with the win, while Middlebury takes the first loss of the year, falling to 5-1.
Algier led the ‘Jackets with 20 points, while Masino and Niemczura each scored nine. Amsellem and Wiele each added eight as every Yellowjacket that saw the court scored.
As a team, Rochester shot 43.9 percent after shooting 50.0 percent in the first half, and took advantage of 17 Middlebury turnovers, turning them into 14 points.
Rochester next hosts Ithaca College on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
Leave a Reply