ROCHESTER, NY – The Alfred University men's basketball team fell to Empire 8 foe Nazareth College, 87-67 as senior forward Tristin Hook (Red Bank, NY/ Middletown North) led the team in points with 14 and in rebounds with eight.
 
The Saxons (9-4,2-2 Empire 8)) got on the scoreboard first as forward Dom LeMorta (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glennville) knocked down his jump shot to give Alfred the early 2-0 lead. Jake Burgio answered for the Golden Flyers before junior forward Sage Brown (Cortland, NY/Cortland) regained the control for the Saxons with his layup. Nazareth opened up the game, leading 16-11 with 13:21 to go in the half.  
 
At the halfway point of the half, Alfred found themselves trailing 18-13 before the Saxons caught fire, going on a 7-0 run that was fueled by junior guard Scotty Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glennville) as he knocked down back-to-back three pointers. Stopera finished with nine points in the contest. Brendan Wind answered with a three of his own to halt the run. Both teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the half as senior guard Nick Schmidt (Olean, NY/Olean) converted his layup attempt with four ticks remaining to tie things up at 34 apiece.
 
The Golden Flyers came into the second half scoring two layups and a successful and-one opportunity to give them the 39-34 advantage. The Saxons would answer, going on an 8-2 run that was powered by senior forward Dalton Cousin (Sherrill, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) as he converted his own and-one opportunity to give Alfred the 42-41 lead. Nazareth caught fire after that as Alfred had a tough time figuring own the Golden Flyers defense.
 
The Golden Flyers were led offensively by Tyler Stenglein and Burgio as the both had 22 points. Stenglein also led the team in rebound with 10, respectively.
 
Alfred held the advantage in bench scoring, 29-15 while Nazareth held the advantage in points off turnovers, 10-5.
 
The Saxons look to get back on track tomorrow as they face St. John Fisher College at 2 PM.