ALFRED, NY— Junior guard Tyler Seelman (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Academy) scored 28 points and sophomore forward Dalton Cousin (Sherrill, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) had 21 and nine rebounds as the Alfred University men's basketball team opened Empire 8 Conference play with an 80-74 victory over visiting Utica College Tuesday evening in the Galanis Family Arena.
 
The game was close throughout, with Alfred claiming a 37-33 halftime lead. The Saxons led by as many as eight in the second half but couldn't pull way from the Pioneers, who twice managed to get within two points after intermission. The contest featured a battle from behind the arc between Seelman (seven-of-nine on three-point shots) and Utica guard Robert Tutein, who made four of nine from long range and finished with a team-high 24 points.
 
AU outrebounded Utica, 49-40 and held a decided edge in free throws, making 19 of 25 from the charity stripe to nine on 16 attempts for the Pioneers. Freshman guard Pat McLamore (Rochester, NY/Aquinas) and sophomore guard Nick Schmidt (Olean, NY/Olean) each went four-of-four from the line and made key free throws late in the game to help seal the win.
 
In the opening minute Utica jumped out to a 2-0 lead and maintained that advantage until the 15:42 mark when Cousin nailed a jumper to grab the lead 9-8. Following the jumper, AU held onto the lead the remainder of the half, only allowing the Pioneers to tie the game at 17-17 with 10:30 to go.
 
The Saxons shot 14-of-34 (41.2%) from the field in the first half, and 5-of-10 from behind the arc. Seelman was 3-of-3 from deep in the first half, making up a majority of his 11 first-half points. Junior Eric Adams (Lebanon, NJ/Hunterdon Central) collected eight rebounds in the first half alone. The Saxons held Utica to 13-of-32 (40.6%) shooting in the first half.  The Pioneers did, however, find success from three-point range with 7-of-16 shooting in the first frame.
 
Junior guard Julian Reinhart (Hornell, NY/Hornell) had nine points and 11 rebounds and Adams had a game-high 12 boards for the Saxons, who improved to 5-5 with the win.
 
Utica (3-6, 0-1 E8) got 13 points and 18 rebounds from Ivan Iton and 12 points from Justin Mayers.
 
Alfred is in action next on Friday, Jan. 8, at 6 p.m. at home against Empire 8 rival Nazareth College.