KEUKA PARK, N.Y. — The Keuka College Men's Basketball team trailed by as many as 18 in the first half and cut the margin down to one in the second half, but were unable to come all the way back as the Wolves lost to Nazareth University 77-65 on Tuesday night.

Keuka College (5-7, 3-2 Empire 8) was led by Christian Sage (Owego, N.Y. / Owego Free Academy) with 18 points. Devin Milton (Opelousas, La. / Beau Chene) finished with 15 for the Wolves and Alijah Ellis (Portsmouth, Va. / Indian River / Fork Union Military Academy) added 14 points in the loss.

Nazareth University 77 at Keuka College 65

Nazareth hit a three on their opening possession, but Keuka answered right back with a layup by Christian Sage. The game remained close early, but the Golden Flyers went on a 15-0 run to push their lead to 25-7. Amar Jackson (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Frederick Douglas Academy) collected an offensive rebound and found a cutting Sage for a layup to stop the run. Keuka College cut into the lead late as the Wolves scored nine unanswered, capped by an Alijah Ellis layup. The bucket cut the lead to nine at 31-22 and forced Nazareth into a timeout. Christian Sage hit a three with less than a minute to play to make the margin eight, 39-31, in favor of Nazareth at the half.

Keuka College came out of halftime with energy as Alijah Ellis hit his opening shot. Mac Creek (Tampa, Fla. / Cambridge Christian) then stole the ball giving Mason VanDeMortel (Newark, N.Y. / Newark) a three to cut the lead to three. Nazareth would push their lead out to ten five minutes into the half, but Jaden Keasey (Newport News, Va. / Menchville) hit a three to cut any momentum. The Golden Flyers continued to play with the lead, but Keuka College kept it close. Amar Jackson had a layup for the Wolves with seven minutes left to play. He then stole the inbounds pass and had another layup to make it a one-point game, 59-58. The Keuka defense got a stop but their three to take the lead was off at the other end. Nazareth was able to slow the Keuka attack and started to slowly regain their lead. They pushed it to ten with a minute left to play and continued on for the 77-65 victory over the Wolves.

KC Notes:

• Keuka College has now dropped ten straight to Nazareth. The Golden Flyers lead the all-time series 25-6
• Jaden Keasey had a big game in the paint for the Wolves. The senior had eight points and ten rebounds. He also tied his career high with three blocks in the game
• Devin Milton knocked down a pair of threes for Keuka. He now sits in fourth on the career threes list at Keuka College with 149
• 14 points for Alijah Ellis set a new season high for the senior
• Keuka College entered the game averaging an Empire 8-leading 9.3 three-pointers per game. They went 5-24 from deep on Tuesday. Nazareth hit nine threes in the win which was above their 7.5-a-game average

Up Next for Keuka College: The Wolves will enter a long stretch of games away from Keuka College in the coming weeks. Keuka College will play six of their next seven games on the road. The span starts this weekend as Keuka College plays at Alfred University on Friday night and then at Elmira College on Saturday afternoon.