HOUGHTON, NY—Junior Julian Reinhart (Hornell, NY/Hornell) continued his six-game double-digit scoring streak in an 80-78 loss to Houghton College on the road on Thursday evening.
 
The Saxons opened the game with a 4-0 lead and maintained the advantage into the half time intermission, 33-28. Junior Eric Adams (Lebanon, NJ/Hunterdon Central) paced AU in the first half with 10 points.
 
The Saxons shot 16-of-36 (44.4%) from the field while holding the Highlanders to only 9-of-30 shooting (30.0%). Both teams combined for 1-of-21 shooting from behind the arc in the first half.
 
The second half was a different story for Houghton College as the Highlanders shot 17-of-28 (60.7%) overall and 7-of-13 (53.6%) from deep. The Saxons shot 17-of-35 (48.6%) overall, but were unable to hold onto the lead.
 
Only four minutes into the second half AU had generated a 12-point lead over the Highlanders, opening on a 14-5 run. However, Houghton was able to decrease the deficit by 11:47 mark. Through the remainder of the game the largest lead was only six points (Houghton at 8:00) and 11 lead changes occurred as both teams vied for a stronghold on the game.
 
The last chance came for the Saxons with 12 seconds left with sophomore Dalton Cousin (Sherrill, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) at the line. The young big man nailed both of his free throws to bring AU within one point, 79-78. The Saxons were forced to foul and put Dylan Lambert on the line. Lambert hit one of his shots from the charity stripe and AU was unable to get a shot off to win the game. The Highlanders won, 80-78.
 
Reinhart finished the game with 24 points and six rebounds to lead the Saxons. Cousin notched 15 points and collected seven rebounds while Adams had 13 points and four rebounds.
 
The Saxons (9-15, E8 5-10) return home for their season finale against Elmira College on Saturday at 2PM.