ALBANY, NY – Senior Logan Blankenberg poured in 21 points on the strength of 5-for-6 shooting from 3-point range to lead the Nazareth Men's Basketball team to a convincing 90-59 win at Russell Sage Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale.
With the win, Nazareth (20-5 overall, 14-4 Empire 8) ended the season in a three-way tie for second place in the final Empire 8 standings but wins the tie-breaker with St. John Fisher and Alfred to claim the No. 2 seed and the first round bye in the Empire 8 Tournament. Nazareth will play the winner of the No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup in the semi-final round of the tournament.
Against Russell Sage (4-21 overall, 2-16 Empire 8), Nazareth jumped out to an early lead hitting five of the first six 3-pointers in the game and never looked back. The Golden Flyers held a commanding 43-25 lead at halftime.
Blankenberg led all scorers with his 21 points and sophomore Jack Broderick added 19 points while graduate student Jonathan Park had another double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
Freshman Solomon McFarlane and graduate student Zach Stenglein each scored 10 points and Stenglein led Nazareth with six assists.
Nazareth shot 47 percent (35-for-74) from the fiend and hit 12-of-16 (46%) from 3-point range. The Golden Flyers also dominated the boards with a solid 51-32 rebounding advantage.
Nazareth will watch games Tuesday to find out its opponent for the Friday semifinal game. The Empire 8 Championship will be Saturday.
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Final 2022-23 Empire 8 Men's Basketball Championship Seeds
#1 – Utica (17-1 E8, 22-3 Overall)
#2 – Nazareth (14-4, E8, 20-5 Overall)
#3 – Alfred (14-4 E8, 19-6 Overall)
#4 – St. John Fisher (14-4 E8, 18-7 Overall)
#5 – Hartwick (8-10 E8, 9-15 Overall)
#6 – Medaille (7-11 E8, 9-16 Overall)
2022-23 Empire 8 Men's Basketball Championship Schedule
Tuesday, February 21 – First Round (at Higher Seed)
#5 Hartwick at #4 St. John Fisher – TBA
#6 Medaille at #3 Alfred – 7 pm
Friday, February 24 – Semifinals (at Utica)
Winner of St. John Fisher/Hartwick at No. 1 Utica – 5:30 p.m.
Winner of Alfred/Medaille vs. No. 2 Nazareth - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 25 - Championship Final (at Utica)
Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2 - 3 p.m
