ROCHESTER, NY - The Alfred University men's basketball team began Empire 8 conference competition with an 83-78 overtime loss to Nazareth University on Saturday evening. 

"I'm happy with the fight from our team coming back from a deficit on the road to force overtime," Head Coach Erich Kaempffe said. "However, we're not quite all the way there in the results column right now. We're going to get back to work on that tomorrow."

The Golden Flyers took the initial lead in the opening half, but a jump shot by Robby Hicks (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) tied the game. Later in the half, seven straight points from Tyler Curran (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) gave AU their first advantage of the evening. A three-point shot by Hicks was followed by a pair of successful free throws by Amoi Charles (Elmont, NY/H. Frank Carey) to close out the first half, but Alfred University still trailed 31-30 going into the break. 

A three-point shot by Tyler Hind (Randolph, NY/Randolph) early in the second half tied the game for the Saxons. Moments later, a layup by Oscar Wolter (Munich, Germany/Lycee Jean Renoir) had Alfred University leading with 17 minutes remaining. Nazareth put together a 7-0 run to force the Saxons to play from behind. Charles responded with seven straight points, as AU trailed by a single point with under seven minutes left in regulation. Curran and Hind combined for 10 points across the final five minutes of regulation, and with under 15 seconds to play, an important layup by Zion Baitey (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) tied the game and sent Alfred University into overtime. 

During the extra period, early scoring from Curran was followed by a jump shot from Wolter, as AU trailed by three points with under a minute to play. The Saxons remained competitive throughout, but successful free throw shooting by Nazareth was enough to come away with the win.

Alfred University will next host Buffalo State College next Saturday at 2:00 PM.