ROCHESTER, NY—The Alfred University men's basketball team got back on track in the Empire 8 with an 85-76 victory over Nazareth College on Friday evening.
 
The Saxons were able to capture their fourth Empire 8 win on Friday by taking advantage of points off turnovers against Naz.  AU outscored the Golden Flyers 30-14 off turnovers and held a slight advantage of 30-26 in points in the paint. 
 
The first half began as a scrum, with both teams struggling to put up points.  By the fifth minute the score was still 5-5, but Naz would eventually jump out to grab a lead.  Naz, holding a lead just slightly out of the reach of the Saxons, owned approximately the next 11 minutes of the game. 
 
However, senior forward Dalton Walsh (Stockton, NY/Cassadega Valley) and AU had a different idea going into the half time break.  With 1:43 to go before the intermission, Walsh hit a layup in the paint to grab the first AU lead since the opening shot in the game. Maurice Mills of Naz then made 1-of-2 free throws to deadlock the game at 28 with only 29 seconds to go.  On the missed second free throw, Walsh ripped down a defensive board and sent the ball down the court to find Kevin McFall (Hatboro, PA/Upper Moreland) who broke the tie with a layup and helped the Saxons carry a 30-28 lead into the half.
 
In the second half neither team had any issues scoring with AU shooting 19-of-38 (50%) from the field and Naz hitting 18-18 free throws.  Three Alfred players scored over 10 points in the second half alone.  Walsh notched 15 points, Tyler Seelman (Lorton, Va/Hayfield Secondary) had 14 points, and Julian Reinhart (Hornell, NY/Hornell) had 11 points. 
 
The Saxons came out in the second half and posted some solid offense and grabbed a game-high 20-point lead with 13:21 to play in the game.  Just as the game seemed to be over, the Golden Flyers stormed back and brought the game within four points with only 4:30 left in play.  Though AU continued to shoot well, they just could not seem to shake the Golden Flyers who hung in to keep the game close.  Finally, with time dwindling down, Naz began to foul sending a gang of Saxons to the line.  Down the stretch the Saxons shot 9-of-10 from the charity stripe to grab the clutch win.
 
Walsh ended the night with a game-high 25 points while grabbing 11 rebounds.  Seelman added 21 points and four steals while Reinhart scored all 11 of his points in the second half.  Senior guard Tim Pacheco (Mt. Pocono, PA/Pocono Mountain East) added eight points four steals and four assists the AU campaign.
 
Alfred (10-4, E8 4-2) returns to action on Tuesday when they travel to Rochester to take St. John Fisher College in an Empire 8 rivalry showdown.