Pioneers Win Third Straight

The Alfred State men's basketball team earned their third straight win, 56-52 over Houghton, on Friday evening. The Pioneers are now 4-2 on the season.

The Pioneers and Highlanders both struggled to get their offenses going. The Highlanders only lead of the contest was in the opening minutes when they led 2-1. The Pioneers led 20-16 with just over two minutes remaining in the 1st half before finishing the half on a 7 to 3 run to lead by eight, 27-19, at the break. The blue & gold led by as many as 12, 33-21, with 17 minutes remaining in the contest but Houghton rallied and tied the game at 40-40 with just over eight minutes remaining. Juwan Toliver (Buffalo/McKinley) connected on a three-pointer on the next possession and the Pioneers never gave back the lead.

The flow of the game was slowed down by 53 fouls (27 on Houghton and 26 on Alfred State) and 38 turnovers (22 on Houghton and 16 on Alfred).

Alexshay Pearce (Rochester/Charlotte) led Alfred State with 19 points and seven rebounds. Toliver was the only other Pioneer in double-figures as he finished with 11 points and eight boards. Dante Jordan (New York/Law and Public Service) added seven points and nine rebounds while Marcus Rhett (Middletown) added seven points. 

The Pioneers shot 29.8% from the field, 13.6% from three, and 57.6% from the foul line. They did force the Highlanders into 22 turnovers that led to 14 points.

Dylan Lambert led the Highlanders (3-3) with 23 points and 11 rebounds while Darius Brown finished with eight points and six boards. Jordan Holmes came off the bench and added six points and 10 rebounds. Houghton shot 27.1% from the field, 15.4% from three, and 59.3% from the foul line.

The blue & gold are back in action on Tuesday when they battle Fredonia at 7:30 p.m.