ALFRED, NY – A competitive effort from the Alfred University men's basketball team resulted in a 60-55 loss to SUNY Poly on Friday night from the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.

The Saxons (3-9, 0-3 Empire 8) outscored the Wildcats (9-2, 2-0 Empire 8) by a 30-27 margin in the final half of regulation, while forcing eight turnovers.

Franlys Valenzuela (Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic/San Ysidro) led Alfred University with a double-double performance that included 14 points and 11 rebounds. Tyler Curran (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) finished the game with 13 points to go with four steals on the defensive end. Zion Baitey (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) added 11 points and five boards for AU.

"Our guys battled tonight, but we came up a little short," Head Coach Erich Kaempffe said. "A lot of credit to Poly for how hard they played. None of us are very happy with how things have gone to this point, and our guys are working as hard as they can to turn this thing around."

Early scoring by Curran and Nolan Gilbert (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) gave the Saxons the initial lead. Deep shots by Curran and Andria Siamashvili (Belgrade, Serbia/ Rabun Gap Cacoochee School) helped maintain the lead. A 7-0 run for the Wildcats forced the Saxons to play from behind. Baitey finished the first half with a team-high nine points, but Alfred University trailed 33-25 going into halftime.

Tyler Hind (Randolph, NY/Randolph) opened scoring for the Saxons to begin the second half. After SUNY Poly built an 11-point advantage for themselves, AU climbed back within three points following a jump shot by Valenzuela with 11 minutes remaining. Six straight points from Valenzuela later in the half had AU within two points with four minutes left in regulation. Successful free throw shooting from the Wildcats towards the end of the game ultimately resulted in the win.

Alfred University will next host Utica University on Saturday at 4:00 PM.