ALFRED, NY -- Strong efforts on both ends of the floor for the Alfred University men's basketball team resulted in a 80-61 victory over Keuka College on Tuesday night at the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.
 
The Saxons improved to 2-0 (2-0 Empire 8) on the spring season. Keuka dropped their third consecutive conference game to fall to 0-3 (0-3 E8).
 
"We are happy with our effort and energy tonight," Head Coach Russell Phillips said. "We had a lot of contributions from different guys tonight. There are things we can learn from and continue to build on as we move forward."
 
Alfred relied on Sam Erickson (Franklinville, NY/Ten Broeck Academy), who finished with 11 points and four rebounds. Junior forward Brewster Marshall (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) ended with 12 points, four rebounds and two steals. First-year forward Casey Curran (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) contributed with 10 points and six boards. Sophomore guard Adam Enders (Belfast, NY/Belfast) added 11 points, as the Saxons shot 42.9 percent (24-of-56) from the field.
 
Sophomore guard Nana Oteng totaled 10 points and three rebounds for Keuka. Devin Milton led the team with 14 points, as the Wolves shot 37.1 percent (23-of-62) from the field.
 
Keuka started on a 7-0 run to open the game, but early shots from Enders and Mike Schmidt (Olean, NY/Olean) erased the early deficit. The Saxons took control after contributions from Erickson allowed the team to take a 41-31 lead going into the break.
 
The Saxons leaned on Curran to start the second half, as he scored six of the team's opening nine points. Alfred compiled a lead by as many as 27 points, with 14 total players finding themselves in the points column.
 
"We needed to be more connected on the defensive end," Phillips said. "We did a better job at the start of the second half. The more we can communicate, the better we can be and that showed for stretches in the second half."
 
Alfred limited Keuka to one shot from three-point range in the second half and only allowed 13 total points in the final five minutes of the game.
 
"We're happy with our progress in the first two weeks of our season," Phillips said. "We still have a long way to go to reach our goals. We need to keep focusing on improving each day, learn from our mistakes and continue to stay hungry."
 
The Saxons begin their three-game road trip on Sunday at Utica College. Tip-off is slated for 1pm.