Pioneers Can't Rally All the Way Back

The Alfred State men's basketball team couldn't rally all the way back from a 19-point deficit and fell 75-65 to SUNY Poly on a Monday afternoon matinee. The Pioneers cut the lead to four with two minutes left but couldn't get any closer.

The Wildcats came out fast and led by 10, 17-7, six minutes into the game. The Pioneers clawed back and tied the game at 21-21 when Ryan Gentile (Spencerport) hit a three-pointer. From that point on SUNY Poly went on a 18-7 run to hold a 11-point halftime advantage.

Poly pushed their lead out to 19 in the first couple minutes of the 2nd half but the Pioneers didn't go away. Alfred State closed the gap to 55-50 with 8:27 left and cut the lead to 69-65 on a three by Kevin Goode (Rochester/Bishop Kearney) with 2:03 remaining but the Wildcats held the Pioneers scoreless the rest of the way to hold on for the victory.

Juwan Toliver (Buffalo/McKinley) led the Pioneers with 16 points while Owen Spencer (Perry) finished with 14 points. Dante Jordan (New York/Law & Public) finished with 12 and Goode came off the bench and chipped in 11.

Josh Gregory was 7 for 10 from the field (4 for 5 from three) and led all scorers with 26 points. Redell Freeman finished with 20 points while Peyton Griffiths chipped in 10 points and eight boards for the Wildcats.

Alfred State shot 41.1% from the field (23 for 56), 32% from three (8 for 25), and was 11 for 18 from the foul line while the Wildcats shot 53.3% from the field (24 for 45), 52.2% from three (12 for 23), and was 15 for 25 from the foul line.

The Pioneers are back in action next Tuesday when they travel to Penn State Behrend for a 6 p.m.