ALFRED, NY—Sophomore sensation Tyler Seelman (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) and the Saxons sent their senior home with a win on Senior Night in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena Saturday evening.
Seelman shot lights out on Senior Night, eclipsing his career-high mark with 31 points, hitting 11-of-18 (61.1%) from the field with six made three-pointers. Freshman forward Kevin McFall (Hatboro, PA/Upper Moreland) also bid adieu to the seniors in style with 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting while collecting six rebounds.
The game began as a frantic sprint with the five Alfred University seniors in the game against the high intensity offense of the Kangaroos. The combination of seniors Dalton Walsh (Stockton, NY/Cassadega Valley), Ryan Mahon (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta), Tim Pacheco (Mt. Pocono, PA/Pocono Mountain East), Mike Snyder (Pulaski, NY/Pulaski) and Jonathan Ruffin (Copiague, NY/Copiague) were able to jump out to a five-point lead 3:31 into the game when Snyder dropped a shot from behind the arc. However, the Kangaroos would regroup and grab a lead just less than two minutes later.
The rest of the half was seemed to be controlled by Canton until McFall tied the game with an old-fashioned three-point play with 2:57 to go in the half. Walsh followed up the freshman with a play of his own to grab the lead on a fast break layup. The Saxons would jump out to a six-point lead heading into the locker room.
To start the second period the Saxons maintained a constant margin on the Kangaroos, until approximately midway through the half when Canton's Sam Annorh dropped a long ball to grab the lead. Seelman quickly answered with a trey of his own and put AU back on top by two with 10:47 to go in the contest.
Two minutes after taking the lead back from Canton, AU went on a four minute 18-5 run, taking a 13-point lead. Down the final stretch the Saxons were able to capitalize on free chances from the charity stripe to give them a 90-71 advantage to close the game.
Walsh ended his evening with his eighth double-double of the season, and second in-a-row, with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Pacheco followed up his senior classmate with 10 points and six assists. Mahon scored seven points while dishing out four assists as Snyder matched with seven of his own.
The Saxons move to 15-7 overall and remain at 8-5 in the Empire 8. AU remains at home for a contest against St. John Fisher College on Tues. February 17th.