ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University men's basketball team continued it's impressive in a matchup with Elmira College on Wednesday evening. The Saxons (18-4, 11-2 Empire 8) picked up their eighth straight conference win with the 95-73 victory over the Soaring Eagles.
Back to back makes from behind the three point line got things started for AU. Cole Eells (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca) hit the first long range shot for the Saxons to break the scoreless tie, followed by three from Scotty Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) to give Alfred the quick 6-0 advantage.
Elmira returned fire with a few buckets to make it a one point game before AU began feeding its first-year big men, Brewster Marshall (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) and Elliot Bowen (Salamanca, NY/Ellicottville) to make the score 18-7 just before the midway point of the first half.
Sage Brown (Cortland, NY/Cortland) went to work inside for the Saxons for a couple of buckets followed by a steal and a fast break layup from Pat McLamore Jr. (Greensboro, NC/Aquinas Institute) to give Alfred its largest lead of the game up to that point.
A late first half three from Sam Dagon (Hornell, NY/Hornell) pushed the AU lead up to as many as 17 with 1:47 before halftime. A couple of late buckets from Elmira made it 43-30 at the break.
The Saxons maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second half. After a quiet first 20 minutes, Dom LeMorta (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) began to heat up. A steal that ended with a break away jam was followed by a rhythm three to put LeMorta into a groove.
A three from Marshall gave AU its largest lead of 25 points with just over seven minutes to play and allowed the Saxons to walk away with yet another win.
"It was another solid, all-around team effort for us today. We've been shooting the ball pretty well lately, but I think it all starts with our defense," Head Coach Russell Phillips said. "Coach Romano has done a great job in building our habits. He's in his year two where we are seeing the same system and it's showing a lot of growth through the last couple of weeks. We know that we have two big ones this weekend with Utica who is playing for a playoff spot and St. John Fisher who is obviously, what they are. So we know that defense has to be our calling card for us this weekend to come out with some wins."
The Saxons once again put five in double-figures in the scoring department. LeMorta led the way with 20 points while grabbing five rebounds and forcing three steals. Brown posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards. Marshall was 7-8 from the field for 15 points and blocked two shots. Dagon finished with 12 points and four assists while Stopera scored 11.
The Saxons will head on the road this weekend for a Friday night matchup with Utica College at 7:30PM.