A special thank you goes to Visions Federal Credit Union for partnering with us to provide the greater Cortland County community with additional sports coverage
Homer Boys Basketball vs. Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central. Wyatt Wilbur shoots free-throws. (Photo provided by Kevin L. Smith of The Cortland Voice).
The Homer Trojans made a second half comeback to beat Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central (ITC) with a close score of 65-62 at Homer high school Tuesday night.
“It was a good win,” said Homer head coach Ken Updike. “I think what I take out of it as a coach with a group of boys, is that I feel like I am doing too much. I just want the best seat in the house and watch them play. Tonight they responded to being down by making some shots and making some stops without me having to do too much. I think that’s growth. It makes me proud, and we just need to keep moving.”
The Trojans had a good start to the game, but fell in the second quarter after being outscored 5-14. Homer was down 23-29 at halftime.
According to coach Updike, the Trojans fixed some stuff up on defense and locked down on ITC’s Antwan Aiken (#5).
“He (Aiken) can shoot the ball,” stated coach Updike. "So we did a good job at taking shots away from him, and knowing where he was on the floor, because they (ITC) do a good job at moving him around. I thought that made the difference, because he can heat it up. We saw it in the first half. So we switched some defenses and tried to find something that would work. Then in that fourth quarter with that 1-3-1 (formation), the kids played well, rebounded the ball, and we made some free-throws. Rebounds and free-throws sound like a winning recipe to me.”
Even though the second half turned into a back and forth battle, Homer slowly got back in the game to gain the lead in the fourth quarter. With only seconds to go, Homer made some free-throws to get a 65-60 lead.
ITC did not give up and was able to get a steal to have Ny'Quan Gilbert score a layup, making it 65-62 with two seconds left. However, two seconds was not enough time for ITC to get another steal and make a play.
“I think we did a good job handling some pressure against a team that is very athletic and kind of prides themselves in playing fast,” stated coach Updike. “We didn’t want them to dictate how we play by speeding us up. We were going to do our stuff and play our game. I think we did a pretty good job doing that.”
Here is a score breakdown of the game:
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Homer | 18 | 5 | 19 | 23 | 65 |
| ITC | 15 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 62 |
Homer was led by Wyatt Wilbur (23 points), Mitchell Earle (13 points), Tyler Van Etten (10 points), Kaden Durham (10 points), and Max Franco (9 points).
ITC was led by Antwan Aiken (17 points), Nyquan Gilbert (15 points), Tyquanne Harris (14 points), Brian Hall (6 points), Lamar Watts (3 points), Liam Kisselstein (3 points), Tyquan Thomas (2 points), and Ja'bri Blunt (2 points).
With this win, Homer improved to a 6-5 overall record.
Up next, Homer will host Chittenango at Homer high school on Thursday (January 18th). Tip off is at 6:45pm.
Here are some photos from Tuesday night’s game (photos provided by Kevin L. Smith of The Cortland Voice):
A special thank you goes to Visions Federal Credit Union for partnering with us to provide the greater Cortland County community with additional sports coverage
