PITTSFORD, N.Y. - SUNY Geneseo junior guard Justin Ringen scored a game-high 30 points, including the game-winning three-pointer with 2.9 seconds on the clock to lead the Knights to the 83-81 victory at Nazareth in the first round of the Wendy's College Classic, Wednesday.

Geneseo (5-0) sophomore guard Charlie Zaepfel was credited with 15 points and nine assists, including the game-winning inbound pass to Ringen in the top-right corner of the arc that set up the deciding basket. 

"I've never seen such a tight game from a statistical standpoint. If you look up and down the box score, there are so many similarities between how the two teams ended up," said head coach Steve Minton. "I thought we could have done a better job on the boards as we gave up a lot of second-chance opportunities. But we did a good job of weathering the storm. Ringen's shot at the end was huge."

In the first half, a fast-break lay-up by Zaepfel at 16:30 capped a 15-6 start for the Knights. Trailing, 20-12, with 12:44 on the clock, Nazareth used a 12-4 run to knot the score, 24-24, at 9:13. 

Nazareth took a 26-24 lead at 8:56, but the Knights would forge a 47-43 halftime lead thanks in part to 20 total points by Ringen, including 6-of-7 shooting from behind the arc.

Falling behind, 52-45, with 16:32 on the second-half clock, the Golden Flyers scored 10-unanswered points, finished off by a pair of three-point jump shots by junior forward Josh Gillard, to build a 55-52 lead at 13:50.  

Geneseo responded with an 8-2 spurt finished by back-to-back three-pointers by senior guard Connor Keenan and junior guard Jonathan Cohen to re-take the lead, 60-57, at 12:04, but a Gillard long-range strike punctuated an 8-0 run as Nazareth pulled back ahead, 65-60, at 9:39.

Facing a 78-73 deficit with 2:52 left in the half, Zaepfel tied the game with a short jumper in the lane and, following a Nazareth miss, an old-fashioned three-point play after drawing a foul on a drive to the hoop that made the score, 78-78, with 1:53 left in regulation.

Nazareth senior forward Mitch Ford drew contact on a short shot in the lane, but only converted the second of his two free-throw opportunities to make it a one-point edge with 1:31 on the clock.

Senior forward Nick Fessenden put the Knights up with a lay-up with 1:07 remaining, but it was junior forward Denzel Jackson putting back a rebound to with eight seconds left in regulation. Following a Geneseo timeout with 5.5 on the clock, Zaepfel hit a cutting Ringen with a short pass from the sideline to set up the winning strike.  

Ford finished the game with 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead four Nazareth players in double-digit scoring. 

Second-seeded Geneseo (5-0) will take on sixth-seeded Roberts Wesleyan on Friday at 6:00 p.m. in a game hosted at the University of Rochester. Roberts defeated third-seeded Hobart, 59-58, in the night's other action.