Men's Basketball Handed 79-67 Loss at SUNY Poly

MARCY N.Y. – Freshman Rich Ross (Bronx, N.Y.) of the Wells College men's basketball team scored at least 20 points for the third-straight contest on Saturday as his team posted a 79-67 loss to the Wildcats from the SUNY Polytechnic Institute. Wells falls to 1-4 overall on the season and to 0-2 within the North Eastern Athletic Conference. The Wildcats move to 2-4 on the year, picking up the win in their first league match of the young season.

Ross finished the contest with 24 points after scoring all but three of those points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Junior Darius Smith (Lanham, Md.) ranked second on the team, scoring 15 points in 11 minutes off the bench via a 5-for-6 performance from the floor. Junior James Feocco (Auburn, N.Y.) chipped in with five rebounds in 11 minutes while freshman David Dames (Manhattan, N.Y.) posted three blocks in the game, the most in one game by any Wells player since January 2015.

Trailing by a 26-19 score with 8:31 left in the first half, Wells put together an impressive 11-to-4 run that was capped by a Ross three-point basket, tying the game at 40 with 4:25 left before halftime. The Wildcats, however, reestablished a seven-point lead after all three of their ensuing field goals were from beyond the arc. A late trey by Terrynce Wilson before the half created a 45-33 lead at the half in favor of the hosts.

The halftime break did nothing to cool off the Wildcats perimeter shooters as Wilson opened the final 20 minutes with a three-pointer to build a commanding 15 point lead over Wells. SUNY Poly opened up a game-high 23 point lead down the stretch, putting the game out of reach. The Express, however, finished strong by scoring 18 of the game's final 25 points.

Wilson was 5-for-8 from distance, leading SUNY Poly in point scoring with 20 to his credit. Quayshaun Mitchell tallied 15 points and Peyton Griffiths scored 12 points in 20 minutes of action off the bench. The Wildcats shot over 50% on the afternoon (30-for-59) and connected on 10 field goals from beyond the arc. Wells was sent to the line 30 times, but lost the turnover battle (20-to-14), yielding 27 points off of turnovers.

Wells will look to rebound against the reigning NEAC Champions from SUNY Cobleskill on Sunday, Dec. 6. Tip-off is slated for high noon.