ROCHESTER, NY—Alfred University was topped in the Empire 8 Championship game, 77-62, against St. John Fisher College in Rochester Saturday afternoon, snapping their nine-game win streak.
 
 
The Saxons will now wait to see if they will make the field for an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship tournament. The ECAC is expected to announce on Monday the pairings and host teams for its men's basketball championships. Alfred is one of five eligible teams that have declared to participate and host the ECAC Upstate championship tournament.  The others are Hartwick, Hobart, Cobleskill and Canton.  If after this weekend there are less than the minimum four teams required by the ECAC to contest a championship, Alfred could be moved to compete in another region. Last year, the Saxons played in the ECAC Southwest championship tournament, as there weren't enough teams to play the Upstate tournament.
 
 
The beginning of the game did not go as planned for the Saxons as they found themselves on the receiving end of an 11-1 run to put them down by a game-high 16 points, 25-9.  However, the resilient Saxons rallied back before the half to a six-point deficit at the break.  AU went on a 12-3 run in that time to mount the comeback and trail the Cardinals 34-28.
 
AU shot 35.5% from the field in the first half, while out-rebounding Fisher 18-14. 
 
The Saxons opened the second half analogous to the way they closed the first, on fire.  Following three made three-pointers the Saxons were within three points of the Cardinals, and poised to take the lead. 
 
Finally, senior Mike Snyder (Pulaski, NY/Pulaski) hit a key 3PT shot to grab the lead 47-46.  The Cardinals answered quickly with a run of their own, getting on top, 51-47.  However, the steadfast offense of the Saxons rebounded again, and in a repeat fashion, Snyder hit another deep ball to grab the lead 52-51. 
 
Soon after taking the lead, the Saxons were topped again when Stefan Bock found a way to the basket to grab the advantage.  Chaz Lott followed with a bucket of his own that was followed in quick succession by a three-pointer from Bock.  The Cardinals took a six-point lead on a 7-0 run late in the second half.
 
 
With time running out the Saxons could not mount enough momentum to go on a run to get back in the game.  As a last measure AU began fouling Fisher, but the Cardinal players capitalized at the line hitting 8-of-8 from the charity stripe and increased their lead to take home the 2015 Empire 8 Championship.
 
The Saxons were led by senior Dalton Walsh (Stockton, NY/Cassadega Valley) who scored 17 points and 13 rebounds, marking his tenth double-double of the season.  Juniors Jerry Kincel (Moosic, PA/Riverside) and Julian Reinhart (Hornell, NY/Hornell) also reached double-digits for the Saxons with 14 and 11, respectively.