Wild Comeback Falls Just Short

The Alfred State men's basketball team fell behind early and spent the rest of the game trying to rally. The Pioneers cut the lead to two in the final minute but couldn't complete the comeback and fell 98-93 at Buffalo State on Wednesday evening.

The Bengals jumped out to a 22-9 lead in the first 5:47 of the game. The blue & gold spent the rest of the 1st half cutting into the lead and trailed by just three, 38-35, with just under five minutes left but trailed 48-40 at the half.

Buffalo State started off the 2nd half on a run and pushed their lead to as big as 21 points, 67-46, with 15 minutes remaining in the game. The Pioneers answered right back with a 11-0 run to get right back in the game. With 6:35 remaining, ASC trailed 84-70 and started their final push. With 1:02 remaining, Tahaij Lewis (Rochester/Greece Olympia) hit two foul shots to make it 92-90. Yosh Bernardez hit two foul shots and then after a Pioneer turnover Bernardez hit two more foul shots to push the lead back to six. Juwan Toliver (Buffalo/McKinley) hit two foul shots to cut it to four, 96-92 with 42 seconds left but the blue & gold would not get any closer.

Lewis had a monster game for the Pioneers. He finished with 21 points, 19 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Toliver finished with 16, Owen Spencer (Perry) had 15 points and eight assists, Dante Jordan (New York/Law & Public Service) came off the bench and had 15, and Kevin Goode (Rochester/Bishop Kearney) had 14. 

The Pioneers were 32 for 71 from the field (45.1%), 10 for 22 from three (45.5%) and 19 for 23 from the foul line (82.6%). The Pioneers were slowed down by 17 turnovers.

Sheldon Adams hit five of the Bengals 15 three-pointers and led the team with 22 points. Dom Grayer finished with 15, Zak Ciezki came off the bench and had 13, and Bernardez added 10.

Buffalo State (2-2) was 30 for 70 from the field (42.9%), 15 for 30 from three (50%), and 23 for 27 from the line (85.2%).

The Pioneers head to New York City this weekend for a pair of games. They take on NYU on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Medgar Evers on Sunday at 4 p.m.