Pioneer Weekly Update: January 8th Edition

Mon. Jan. 8: Men's Basketball at SUNY ESF: 1 p.m.

Wed. Jan. 10: Men's Basketball @ D'Youville: 6 p.m. * Live Stats * Live Video 

Wed. Jan. 10: Wrestling vs. Penn State DuBois - Cancelled

Fri. Jan. 12: Swimming vs. Franciscan - Rescheduled to 2/3

Fri. Jan. 12: Men's Basketball @ Albany Pharmacy: 4 p.m.

Sat. Jan. 13: Swimming & Diving @ Erie CC Invitational: 1 p.m.

Sat. Jan. 13: Women's Basketball vs. Maine Fort Kent: 6 p.m. * Live Stats * Live Video

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Team Updates

Men's Basketball: 8-3

The blue & gold won their first two games of 2018, 75-74 over Keuka and 76-71 over SUNY Poly. The Pioneers have now won four straight and seven of their last eight.

Alexshay Pearce (Rochester/Charlotte - Tech Management) led the team with 37 points while Juwan Toliver (Buffalo/McKinley - Tech Management) averaged 12.5 points, 8 rebounds, and 9.5 assists in the two contests. Marcus Rhett (Middletown) chipped in 23 points and 11 boards.

In the victory vs. Keuka, the Pioneers rallied from seven down in the final five minutes to win the game. Dante Jordan (New York/Law & Public Service - Business Management) scored the winning basket with 21 seconds left and blocked a shot in the final seconds to seal the victory.

The Pioneers shot 45.5% from the field for the week and held a huge 100 to 58 rebounding advantage.

Women's Basketball: 3-8

The Pioneers split a pair of games to open up the 2018 portion of the schedule. They defeated D'Youville 70-48 but fell 76-65 SUNY Poly.

Catherine Bialecki (Alfred Almond - Diagnostic Medical Sonography) led the team with 42 points, 26 rebounds, and 13 blocks - she had 32 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and blocked eight shots vs. Poly. Rayanna Anderson (Wellsville - Sport Management) finished the week with 29 points, nine boards, and nine assists while Janae Gibson (Bronx/Pelham Prep - Sport Management) had 20 points and 15 boards this week. 

The Pioneers shot 41.7% from the field for the week and held a 93 to 88 rebounding edge.

Wrestling: 2-3, 12th at Waynesburg Invitational

George Van Valen (Ithaca - Construction Management) led the Alfred State wrestling team with a 1st place finish at the Waynesburg Invitational. Van Valen won his opening match by injury default and then pinned William Oberschelp (Washington & Jefferson) in 2:30 and Avery Jones (Thomas More) in 2:15 to reach the finals. In the finals he defeated Isaiah Watson-Kirksey (Mount Union) 16-0 to claim his third title of the season and improve to 16-0 on the year. Watson-Kirksey is now 15-4 on the year.

At 157 lbs. Mike Galton (Warsaw - Construction Management) was 3-2. He won a 9-1 decision over Marc Larson (Gettysburg) to open the day and then defeated Joshua Armstrong (Washington & Lee) 7-4. He fell in a tight 9-7 quarterfinal match to Michael McIntire (Mount Union) but rebounded to win 13-4 over Donnie Kerr (Penn State Behrend). His day came to an end in the 5th round of the consolation bracket when he fell 10-2 to Hunter Neely (Washington & Jefferson).

Ryan Mattison (Brockport - Construction Management) won two matches at heavyweight. He won a 3-1 decision over Cody Carr (Mount Union) and pinned Kyle Fitzgerald in 6:15.

The event featured wrestlers from 16 schools. The Pioneers finished 12th with 54.5 points. Mount Union won the team title with 206.5

Swimming & Diving: Women 3-1, Men 1-3

The swimming and diving team is in Coral Springs, FL for their annual training trip. They are back in action on Saturday when they compete at the Erie CC Invitational. Due to some travel issues, the scheduled women's dual meet with Franciscan (1/12) has been rescheduled (2/3).

Indoor Track & Field: 

The indoor track & field team will return to action on January 19th when they compete at the Houghton Invitational.