ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Nazareth men's basketball team fell on the road against Hartwick 66-54 in an Empire 8 contest Friday evening. In the loss, graduate student Jonathan Park grabbed a team-high 15 rebounds to break the single-season record and school record. Park added 13 points for his 15th double-double of the season. Sophomore Jack Broderick led the Golden Flyers with 14 points.

Following the loss, Nazareth drops to 19-5 overall and 13-4 in Empire 8 games. With the victory, the Hawks improve to 9-14 overall and 8-9 in the conference. After Friday's loss, the Golden Flyers are in a three-way tie for second place with Alfred and St. John Fisher with all three teams at 13-4 in conference games. If the teams finish tied after Saturday's action, Nazareth would get the second seed and first round bye in the tournament. Saturday's slate of games features Nazareth at Russell Sage (2-14 E8), Alfred hosts Elmira (6-11 E8), and Fisher plays at Hartwick (8-9 E8). Nazareth could also finish third or fourth. The Golden Flyers would finish third with a win, St. John Fisher win, and a loss by Alfred. They would finish fourth with a loss and a win by Alfred.

Park set the school record for rebounds with a hard-fought defensive rebound along the Golden Flyers' baseline in the final minute of the game. The rebound, Park's 15th of the game, gives him 947 career boards and breaks the record of 946 that Chris Pagan amassed during the 1994-98 seasons. Additionally, Park broke the single-season record of 293 rebounds that Mitch Ford totaled during the 2015-16 season. Park has 300 rebounds this season following Friday's game.

The Hawks took a 28-24 into the break after they converted four free throws in the final 72 seconds of the first half. Hartwick extended its lead after halftime with back-to-back baskets to stretch its lead to nine points. The Golden Flyers closed to within three points twice but were unable to tie or take the lead. Senior Jordan Haggard brought Nazareth to within one possession, 35-32, following a three-pointer that he scored three minutes into the second, then Broderick converted a pair of free throws to cut the Golden Flyers deficit to 43-40 with just under 12 minutes remaining in regulation.

Another critical stretch happened with about five minutes to play in regulation. After Park made a layup to cut the Hawks' lead to four points, 52-48, Nazareth's defense prevented Hartwick from scoring on its possession. The Golden Flyers had two shots to cut its deficit to one possession but both shots were off the mark. Then, graduate student Zach Stenglein stole the ball but his shot was unsuccessful, too. The Hawks collected the rebound and pushed the ball in transition. After driving to the basket, Sammuel Prosper kicked the ball out to Kevin Felasco, who connected the open three-point attempt to stretch Hartwick's lead to 55-48. The Hawks finished with nine three-point baskets to help them keep their lead.

The Golden Flyers struggled to find their shot, finishing at 30 percent (21-69) on field goal attempts for the game. Hartwick shot 38 percent from the field (24-64) and finished with a 48-46 edge in rebounds.

Nazareth's regular season finale at Russell Sage tips off at 4 p.m.