BUFFALO, NY—Medaille and Buffalo State earned victories to tip-off the Buffalo State Holiday Inn Invitational tonight at the Sports Arena. Medaille topped D’Youville, 57-48, in the opener, and Buffalo State defeated Hilbert, 82-66, in the late game.

In the early game, Medaille never trailed, despite a stretch of more than 13 minutes without a field goal at the end of the first half and the start of the second. The Mavericks led 57-48 at the half, but D’Youville rallied to within two points at 50-48 with 2:29 remaining. James McNeil (Erie, PA/Northwest Acad.) hit a 3-pointer with 44 seconds remaining to give Medaille some breathing room, and it added two free throws and a lay-up in the closing seconds. McNeil led Medaille with 22 points on 4 of 21 shooting, and hit 12 of 14 from the charity stripe. He also grabbed 11 rebounds. Bill Gersitz (Buffalo/Kenmore East) and Scott Hack (Angola, IN/Angola) had nine points apiece for the Mavericks. Ross King (Silver Springs/Letchworth) led D’Youville with 17 points and 14 boards, and Kyle Ward (Lafayette, IN/Central Catholic) and Tom Kowalski (Cheektowaga/JFK) each had 10 points.

In the nightcap, Buffalo State opened up a 39-26 halftime lead and cruised to victory. Hilbert never got closer than 11 in the second half, and the Bengals led by as many as 25. Buffalo State’s Gregg Jones (Syracuse/Nottingham) led all scorers with 21 points. Jobany Tirado (Syracuse/Corcoran) added 10 points, and James Williams (Brooklyn/William Grady) and Dion Mozelle (Rego Park/Xaverian) had nine each. Corey Vander Sluis (Syracuse/W. Genesee) led Hilbert with 14 points. Dallas Reinard (Smethport, PA/Smethport) and Allen Leight (Oakfield/Oakfield-Alabama) added 13 and 12 points respectively.

Medaille will play Buffalo State in tomorrow’s championship game at 8 p.m. D’Youville and Hilbert will meet in the consolation game at 6 p.m.