HOUGHTON, NY – The Alfred University men's basketball team edged out host Houghton College Tuesday evening, 75-74 at the Nielsen Center.
 
The Saxons (15-4, 8-2 Empire 8) were led by senior forward Dalton Cousin (Sherrill, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) with Nick Schmidt (Olean, NY/Olean), Scotty Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville), Dom LeMorta (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) and Sam Dagon (Hornell, NY/Hornell) all finished the game with 10 points apiece. Junior forward Sage Brown (Cortland, NY/Cortland) had a team-high seven rebounds (four offense, three defense).
 
Jordan Holmes got Houghton on the board first with a 3-point shot before LeMorta answered on the other end. Alfred gained the lead as Cousin knocked down his jumper in the paint to make it 5-3 with 17:34 to go in the first half. Neither team was able to gain much ground until the Highlanders went on an 11-2 run to make it 22-13 with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half.
 
Alfred responded, going on a 17-7 run that was fueled by four total three-pointers made to give Alfred the 30-29 advantage with four minutes remaining before halftime. Stopera knocked down his shot beyond the arc as time expired to give them a 40-36 lead going into halftime.
 
The second half proved to be very similar to the first half as neither team were able to gain and maintain much of a lead. The Saxons were able to gain a four-point lead as Schmidt knocked down both of his free throws to make it 71-67 with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. Dylan Lambert was able to cut the deficit to one with a 3-pointer. Schmidt answered with a three of his own to make it 74-71. Stopera made it a two-possession game with knocking down the backend of his free throw opportunities to make it 75-71 with 15 seconds to go. Carl Holmes was able to hit his 3-point shot before the final buzzer, but it was too little, too late.
 
"A lot of credit to Houghton tonight," Head Coach Russell Phillips said. "They played a really strong game and shot the ball really well. We are happy to come out with the win and will learn from it and get ready for Fisher on Tuesday."
 
Alfred showed it depth tonight, outscoring Houghton's bench (29-8) while also holding the advantage in second chance points (16-5).
 
The Saxons next play St. John Fisher College in Empire 8 action on February 6 at 6 PM.