ITHACA, NY – Senior guard
Tyler Seelman (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) went 7-for-10 from three-point range, helping power the Alfred University men's basketball team to a 118-79 Empire 8 Conference-opening win at Ithaca College Tuesday evening.
Seelman, who finished with a game-high 32 points,
went 11-for-15 from the field as the Saxons shot 61 percent from the floor. Sophomore forward
Sage Brown (Cortland, NY/Cortland) had a big night as well with 20 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard
Sam Dagon (Hornell, NY/Hornell) and junior forward
Tristin Hook (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown North) played big roles coming off the bench as they scored a combined 25 points, while sophomore guard
Scotty Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) had a team high eight rebounds.
The Saxons (4-6, E8 1-0) fell behind early by three but gained the control of the lead after Seelman knocked down his first three at the 17:24 mark off the assist from junior guard
Nick Schmidt (Olean, NY/Olean). Alfred never looked back after that, going on a 15-6 run near the midway point of the first half that ended with a layup from senior guard
Julian Reinhart (Hornell, NY/Hornell). The Saxons gained a 27-point advantage going into halftime as Stopera made a layup in the closing seconds to give Alfred a 62-35 lead going into intermission.
Alfred continued to dominate in the second half as senior forward
Eric Adams (Readington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) helped push the lead to 31 of a made layup with the assist going to Schmidt at the halfway mark. Freshman guard
Liam Ebert (Wellsville, NY/Wellsville) hit back-to-back three-point shots as the Saxons extended their lead to 37. Ebert
connected on his third shot from long range, with just under three minutes remaining.
As a team, Alfred converted on 52 percent of its three-point attempts and shot 87 percent from the free-throw line.
Alfred dominated the paint as it outscored Ithaca inside, 52-30, and had a huge contribution from the bench as the Saxon reserves scored 60 points to Ithaca's 38.
Sebastian Alderete scored 18 points and hauled in eight rebounds to pace the Bombers.
The Saxons return to action this Friday, Jan. 6, when they host E8 foe Nazareth College at 8 p.m.
