2021 Vaden Cup Tournament Recap

BUFFALO, NY - The 2021 Vaden Cup was contested this past weekend, March 20th and 21st, with two new champions crowned in the inaugural conference tournament.  Bryant & Stratton Buffalo won the men's championship and Bryant & Stratton Rochester was victorious on the women's side on Sunday, in the two-day tournament hosted by Buffalo.

Buffalo defeated Syracuse 91-89 to claim the men's title and Rochester defeated Buffalo 83-82 in an overtime thriller on the women's side.  The tournament, which featured all four New York State Bryant & Stratton College campuses (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany), was a massive success, capping in two thrilling championship games.

SATURDAY GAMES

Game 1: #2 Rochester def. #3 Syracuse, 85-37 (Women's Semifinal 1)

Rochester was paced by Kathryn Kanhoye who scored a game-high 20 points to lead her team to a dominant semifinal win over Syracuse.  Rochester held Syracuse to just 19.7 percent shooting and forced 27 turnovers.  Julie Trowers scored 17 to lead Syracuse.

Game 2: #1 Buffalo def. #4 Albany, 95-65 (Women's Semifinal 2)

Buffalo defeated Albany 95-65 in the second women's semifinal game as six players scored in double-figures for Buffalo.  Armoni Jordan had 21 points off the bench to lead Buffalo, which got 49 points from it's bench.  Alissa Johnson scored 19 points as well.  Buffalo led wire-to-wire.  Anyla Harper scored a game-high 31 points for Albany.

Game 3: #2 Syracuse def. #3 Rochester, 92-72 (Men's Semifinal 1)

Syracuse made it 3-0 against Rochester this season, winning the first semifinal game 92-72 behind 27 points from Tyler Gadson.  Jerry Saintelus scored 23 as well, helping Syracuse pull away from Rochester in the second half.  Syracuse made 11 threes and held Rochester to just 40 percent shooting and 28 percent from three.  Rochester was paced by Victor Caldwell who scored a team-high 22 points and went 4-of-8 from three.

Game 4: #1 Buffalo def. #4 Albany, 88-82 (Men's Semifinal 2)

Buffalo got off to a fast start and led wire-to-wire in an 88-82 semifinal win over Albany.  It was Buffalo's sixth straight win and moved them to a perfect 6-0 in March.  All five starters scored in double-figures for Buffalo.  Shyquinn Dix scored 20 to lead Buffalo, but Danny Turkvan was close behind with 16.  Denzel Fuller and Davon Ware each scored 15 and Sam Dorissaint scored 14.  Jamil Hood scored a game-high 23 points for Albany.

SUNDAY GAMES

Game 5: #4 Albany def. #3 Syracuse, 72-62 (Women's 3rd Place Game)

The fourth-seeded Albany Bobcats came out of Buffalo with a win and third place after downing Syracuse 72-62.  Saige Roberts scored a game-high 25 points and Na'seyah Dix scored 12.  Anyla Harper added 9 points and 14 rebounds.  Syracuse was paced by Julie Trowers with 18 points.

Game 6: #2 Rochester def. #4 Albany, 72-65 (Men's 3rd Place Game)

Thanks to a monster game from Andre Hairston - who scored 19 points and secured 23 rebounds - Rochester defeated Albany 72-65 in the men's third place game.  Rochester had four players in double-figures as Marcus Zappia scored 20.  Victor Caldwell scored 12 off the bench.  Jamil Hood and Khallyn LaFond eached netted 21 for Albany.

Game 7: #2 Rochester def. #1 Buffalo, 83-82 OT (Women's Vaden Cup Championship)

The 2021 Women's Vaden Cup was decided in thrilling action on Sunday as a late fury by the Bryant & Stratton Buffalo Bobcats came up just short as they fell 83-82 in overtime to Bryant & Stratton Rochester.  Buffalo entered the tournament as the top seed and finished the season 10-7.

Buffalo held control of the game for the first 30 minutes before Rochester used a monstrous fourth quarter from Kathryn Kanhoye who went 5-of-6 from the floor in the quarter, helping Rochester erase a 15-point deficit and send the game to overtime.  

After Rochester scored the first four points of overtime, Buffalo responded with a bucket from junior Alissa Johnson.  Rochester's Shanell Glover answered 16 seconds later to get the lead back to four before two free throws from Dorian Sharp made it a six-point game with 1:03 left.  Janae Brannon then hit one of two free throws with 59 seconds left which was followed by a steal and score from Armoni Jordan to make it an 83-80 game with 45 seconds left.  Buffalo then forced another turnover as Brannon came up with a steal and dished ahead to Johnson who made it a one-point game with 29 seconds left.

After two missed Rochester free throws, Buffalo had a chance to win the game out of a timeout but was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded, giving Rochester the come-from-behind win and Vaden Cup Championship.

Buffalo was led offensively in the game by Jordan who scored 23 points.  Johnson scored 22.  Rochester was paced by Sharp with 25 and Kanhoye with 22.  All players were named to the All-Tournament Team.  Rochester finished it's season with a 9-3 record.

Game 8: #1 Buffalo def. #2 Syracuse, 91-89 (Men's Vaden Cup Championship)

The Bryant & Stratton Buffalo Bobcats capped off it's 2020-21 season, winning the Men's Basketball Vaden Cup over Bryant & Stratton Syracuse, 91-89 on Sunday evening.  Junior Sam Dorissaint was named the Tournament MVP as he capped off his weekend with a game-high 27 points and 11 rebounds to help Buffalo close the season with seven consecutive wins and a Conference Championship.

Buffalo jumped out to an early dominating 17-2 lead in the opening five minutes, scoring 17 straight after two to open the game from Syracuse.  All 17 points came from Buffalo's Stamford, CT trio.  Senior Shyquinn Dix scored the first seven points and had nine of the first 17.  Dorissaint had seven and freshman Danny Turkvan had two.  

Buffalo kept command of the game over the opening 20 minutes as Dorissaint scored 21 of his 27 in the first half.  They led by as many as 16, which was their halftime lead (53-37) thanks to a buzzer-beating three from sophomore Davon Ware.

Syracuse opened the second half strong, opening the half on an 11-0 run, capped by five straight from Jerry Saintelus.  After Buffalo increased it's lead back to 10 moments later after a layup from junior Jason Mixon, Syracuse scored seven straight to get within three.  They eventually came all the way back to tie the game at 68 with 9:56 left.  But Buffalo responded as Ware and sophomore Eric Waters connected on back-to-back threes.

After two Syracuse free throws, Waters put another two points home for Buffalo, this time courtesy of a thunderous two-hand alley-oop slam off a nice pass from Dix.

The two teams battled hard down the stretch as Syracuse hung around, eventually tying the game at 89 in the final 30 seconds.  With Buffalo having possession in the final seconds, Turkvan took a baseline jumper as the shot clock was expiring that fell short.  Saintelus of Syracuse reached for the rebound, but the ball was abruptly taken away from him by Waters who was then fouled with one second left on the clock.

After a timeout and attempt to ice the shooter from Syracuse, Waters showed that the only ice around, was in his veins, as he buried both free throws giving Buffalo a two-point lead and eventual lead as Syracuse's last-second heave was off the mark.

Buffalo had five players in double-figures.  After Dorissaint's game-high 27, Dix added 19 and Waters had 17 off the bench.  Ware and Turkvan scored 11 and 10 points respectively.

Syracuse had five players in double figures as well and were led by Jameel Abdallah 25 points and 10 rebounds.  Tyler Gadson and Ishyne Pilgrim each scored 17.

WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT MVP
Rochester's Dorian Sharp was named the Tournament's MVP after she scored 25 points in the win over Buffalo.  She scored 11 in a semifinal win over Syracuse and ended the tournament with 26 rebounds, 10 assists, 6 steals and 5 blocks.

MEN'S TOURNAMENT MVP
Sam Dorissaint was named the Vaden Cup Tournament MVP after scoring 27 points in the championship game.  Dorissaint went 10-of-13 from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the win, also securing 11 rebounds and dishing out 3 assists.  He averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, while also shooting 67 percent from the floor and from three for the tournament, helping the Bobcats finish the season 16-5 and winners of their last seven games.

WOMEN'S ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Dorian Sharp (MVP), Rochester
Kathryn Kanhoye, Rochester
Alissa Johnson, Buffalo
Armoni Jordan, Buffalo
Julie Trowers, Syracuse
Anyla Harper, Albany

MEN'S ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Sam Dorissaint (MVP), Buffalo
Davon Ware, Buffalo
Shyquinn Dix, Buffalo
Jameel Abdallah, Syracuse
Andre Hairston, Rochester
Khallyn LaFond, Albany