ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University men's basketball team began their two-game homestand with a 85-63 loss to St. John Fisher University on Friday evening from the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.
 
The Saxons (4-8, 1-2 Empire 8) forced the Cardinals (7-5, 3-0 Empire 8) to 17 turnovers as part of their efforts.
 
Nolan Gilbert (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) scored a team-high 12 points to go with five rebounds. Zion Baitey (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) recorded 11 points and four steals. Adam Enders (Belfast, NY/Belfast) and Franlys Valenzuela (Santiago de los Cabelleros, Dominican Republic/San Ysidro) each added nine points for AU.

"This was not the level of execution we were looking for tonight," Head Coach Erich Kaempffe said. "We have a chance to work on it against another high quality opponent in Nazareth tomorrow."
 
Enders sparked AU's offense early in the first half, scoring the team's first five points. A three-point shot with just over 14 minutes remaining in the first half gave the Cardinals their first lead of the evening. A 13-0 run by Fisher had the Saxons trailing by as many as six points. Baitey added six points in the first half, but the Cardinals continued to find open shots before taking a 43-26 lead into the break.
 
Tyler Curran (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) opened scoring for AU with a three-point shot in the early stages of the second half. Nolan and Valenzuela combined for 15 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough to erase the deficit before the final horn.
 
Alfred University will next host Nazareth University on Saturday at 4:00 PM.