ALBANY, NY – The Alfred University men's basketball team took on the Gators of The Sage Colleges' in a Friday evening matchup.  The Saxons (10-4, 3-2 Empire 8) dropped a close one to the host, Gators by a score of 74-81. 

After a Dom LeMorta (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) three-point make, the Saxons were out to a 21-12 lead with the clock at 13:15 in the first half. 

After Sage returned fire with a three of its own, AU went on a 10-2 run, thanks to 8 points alone from Sam Dagon (Hornell, NY/Hornell), to make it 31-17 in favor of the Saxons. 

The Gators made a bit of a push at the end of the half, and the score was 47-41 at the break. 

The Second half was close most of the way. Alfred did extend its lead back up to 13 after an Elliot Bowen (Salamanca, NY/Ellicottville)layup, making the score 54-41 with 17:10 left to play. 

Around the 14 minute mark is when Sage began to make its push. A made jumper followed by a three-point make brought the Gators to within three points and made the score 61-58 with just over 10 minutes to play. 

Another three with 6:58 left to play tied the game at 65 all. It was not until the two-minute mark that Sage took its first lead off of yet another make from beyond the arc. 

After the late lead change, the Gators never looked back scoring 10 straight on their way to the 81-74 victory. 

"We didn't defend or rebound well enough to win tonight," Head Coach Russell Phillips said. Credit to Sage; they played well and made our offensive looks difficult. 

LeMorta led the Saxon scorers with 24. Dagon chipped in 14 while Bowen had 10. Scotty Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) scored nine and dished out 8 assists. Brewster Marshall (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) had 10 points and grabbed five boards. 

The Saxons will look to brush this one off and will be back on the hardwood tomorrow at Stevens Institute of Technology at 2PM.