Ryan Gentile with the ball

Pioneers Win Tight One over D'Youville

The Alfred State men's basketball team won a tight 79-76 contest vs. D'Youville on Wednesday night. The Pioneers improve to 9-8 on the season with the victory.

The first 13 minutes of the game went back and forth but the Pioneers went on a 17-2 run to build 42-31 advantage with 90 seconds left in the half. After a timeout, the Spartans ended the half on a 7-2 run to head into the locker room trailing by six. Tahaij Lewis (Rochester/Greece Olympia) and Juwan Toliver (Buffalo) had big performances in the 1st half. Lewis scored 12 and grabbed six boards while Toliver added eight points and eight rebounds.

The blue & gold maintained their lead for the first five minutes of the 2nd half before D'Youville went on a run to take the lead 57-55 with just over 10 minutes left in the contest. The game went back and forth the rest of the way as D'Youville led by as many as three, 60-57, before the Pioneers scored eight straight to take a five point advantage, 65-60. The Spartans didn't go away and tied the contest at 69-69 before Ryan Gentile (Spencerport) hit a shot in the paint to give the Pioneers the lead for good. With 17 seconds left, the Spartans had a chance to tie the game but a foul shot rimmed out and Lewis grabbed the board and built the lead back up to three with a pair of foul shots. D'Youville had two opportunities from beyond the three-point arc in the final seconds but could not hit the game-tying shot.

Gentile had a monster 2nd half leading the Pioneers with 14 points while Lewis added 12 more points and 11 rebounds.

Lewis finished the night with 24 points and 17 rebounds, Toliver added 13 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, and Gentile scored 14 off the bench. The Pioneers shot 35.9% from the field, 32% from three, and 83.3% (15 for 18) from the foul line. They also held a 52 to 44 advantage on the boards.

Grant Beyer led four Spartans (7-10) in double figures with 22 points and eight rebounds. Devon Darrell finished with 15, Jeremy VanDuluitgaarden had a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds, and Brian Sharp scored 10 off the bench. D'Youville shot 40.6% from the field, 27.3% from there, and 77.8% (14 for 18) from the foul line.

The Pioneers head to Morrisville on Sunday for a 2 p.m. contest with the Mustangs.