Hamilton College's Bradley Gifford '15 posted his third straight double-double and the Continentals cruised to a 90-58 win against the D'Youville College Spartans in the first round of the Hamilton Invitational Tournament at Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Nov. 22.
Box Score
The Continentals (3-1 overall) will meet Widener University in the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 2 p.m. The Pride defeated Utica College 92-82 in the earlier matchup. D'Youville and Utica play in the consolation game at noon.
Gifford scored 10 points and tied a career high with 12 rebounds. He grabbed all those boards in the first half and has four career double-doubles at Hamilton. The Continentals enjoyed a 55-31 advantage on the glass and went 19-for-23 (82.6 percent) at the free throw line.
Hamilton's Kyle Pitman '17 dropped in a team-high 11 points off the bench and was one of five Continentals in double figures. Joseph Lin '15, Peter Kazickas '15 and Wes Wilbur '17 scored 10 points each as 13 players scored at least two points for Hamilton. Matt Hart '16 handed out a game-high five assists.
Marcus Clarke '16 led the Spartans (2-1) with a game-high 20 points. Julian Reed '15 chipped in 10 points and three blocked shots, and Matt Insley '17 pulled down nine rebounds. D'Youville shot just 29 percent (18-62) from the floor.
The Continentals scored the first five points and never trailed. A 3-pointer by the Spartans' Insley forced the only tie score of the night at 10-10. A layup by Kazickas started a 7-0 Hamilton run and put the Continentals in the lead for good.
A layup by Hart gave Hamilton its first double-digit advantage at 22-11 with 12:55 left in the first half. The Continentals led by as many as 23 points in the first half at 42-19 with 4:21 remaining. Hamilton took a 49-31 cushion into the break.
The Continentals' lead fluctuated between 17 and the final 32-point margin during the second half. Hamilton shot 53.1 percent (17-32) from the field during the final 20 minutes.
