ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University men's basketball team ended the Special Tees Tipoff Tournament with a 71-57 loss to the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday from the Orvis Gymnasium.
Franlys Valenzuela (Santiago de los Cabelleros, Dominican Republic/San Ysidro) led Alfred University with a double-double performance that consisted of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Tyler Curran (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) finished the game with 12 points to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Gabe Eldaye (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) and
Casey Curran (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) each scored 8 points for AU.
"We have a lot of work to do and we're excited to work as hard as we can the next few days to try and improve," Head Coach
Erich Kaempffe said.
Back-to-back baskets from
Casey Curran early in the opening half gave the Saxons their first lead of the afternoon. The Mariners took a few brief leads, but a layup from Valenzuela eventually tied the game halfway through the first half. Late points from
Nolan Gilbert (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) had Alfred University leading 30-28 going into halftime.
To open the second half, there were four lead changes across the first three minutes of action. A three-point shot from Eldaye was followed by a layup from
Oscar Wolter (Munich, Germany/Lycee Jean Renoir) to have the Saxons leading by as many as four points. However, a 9-0 run by the Mariners left AU trailing by 10 points with less than seven minutes to play. Each side traded successful shots to close out the game, but the Saxons were outscored in the closing minutes before the final horn ended the game.
Alfred University will next travel to Misericordia University on Wednesday for a non-conference matchup at 7:00 PM.
