CANTON, N.Y. – The Husson University men's basketball team dropped its first North Atlantic Conference contest of the season to SUNY Canton on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 82-78.
Husson (14-2, 6-1 NAC) and Canton (8-10, 4-3 NAC) couldn't manage to gain any separation from each other to start Saturday afternoon's NAC contest, as the two teams traded leads a handful of times within the first 10-plus minutes of action and the game was all knotted up at 18 with 9:40 remaining in the opening half.
The Eagles were able to find their groove offensively over the next six minutes of play, as they went on a 16-6 run that gave them a 34-24 edge over the Roos with just under four minutes left in the first half. Sophomore Eric Ahlers, senior Jeremy Moronta and freshman Tope Alao put Husson on their backs during the stretch, as the trio managed to score all 16 of the Eagle's points during the frame. It was Canton who was able to end the half on a stronger note, as it put together a 12-4 spurt over the final four minutes of the half to cut the Husson lead down to two going into the halftime break.
Moronta led the Eagles offensively in the first half, pouring in 12 points to go along with four rebounds and two assists. Ahlers led a Husson bench unit that managed to score 15 points in the opening frame, as he single-handedly tallied nine of those points.
The Eagles shot just a shade under 40% as a team during the first half and held a 23-18 edge over Canton on the glass, including an 11-5 advantage on the offensive boards.
The Roos were able to continue their momentum into the second half, as they opened on a 14-4 scoring outburst over the first five minutes of action and forced Husson into an early timeout. Canton was able to keep the Eagles at an arm's length until about the five-minute mark when Husson made its push. With the score at 73-65 in favor of the Roos, the Eagles would go on to close the gap to within 77-75 on a jumper from senior Jared Balser with just under a minute remaining.
After a field goal from Canton extended the lead back to four, Alao would find Moronta in the far corner for a three-pointer that cut the lead back down to one with 18 seconds left. The Roos would make just one of their two free throws on their ensuing trip to the charity stripe, but Husson was unable to secure the rebound and Canton would go 2-2 from the line on its next trip to put the game away.
Junior Riles Neff did his best to keep the Eagles in the game, as he tallied 25 points, including 18 in the second half, on an efficient 9-17 shooting from the floor. Moronta also surpassed the 20-point plateau, as he poured in 21 points, in addition to securing five rebounds. Ahlers was the other double-digit scorer for Husson, as he recorded 11 points off the bench.
The Eagles couldn't overcome another cold shooting performance, as they mustered just a 38.6% shooting percentage in Saturday's defeat, including just a 7-22 rate from three-point range. The normally stifling defense of Husson allowed a season high 47% field goal percentage to Canton, in addition to recording 15 turnovers on the offensive end.
The men's basketball team will look to rebound on just its second setback of the season on Wednesday when it concludes an eight-game stretch away from Newman Gymnasium, as it travels to Colby College. Tip-off for this non-conference contest is set for 7 p.m.
