Men's Basketball Upended By Morrisville State, 90-75

MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – Freshman Rich Ross (Bronx, N.Y.) scored a team-leading 19 points on Thursday as the Wells College men's basketball team fell to the hosts from Morrisville State College by a 90-75 score. Wells drops to 6-11 overall and to 4-6 against North Eastern Athletic Conference opponents. Morrisville State moves to 11-6, improving to 7-2 within the league.

Ross poured home 19 points, shooting 8-for-17 from the floor. Senior Jordan Bishop (Arlington, Texas) posted 17 of his team's points, falling a single point shy of tying his career high set on Nov. 20, 2012 against Keystone. Junior Chris Courtney (Auburn, N.Y.) dished out a team-leading four assists, rounding out his team's double-digit point scorers with 13 to his credit.

A Courtney triple only 4:05 into the contest placed the Express up by a game-high 10-6 margin. The Mustangs, however, countered with a strong 20-6 run over the next five minutes to put the game out of reach for Wells. The Express shot nearly 45% (12-for-27) in the opening half, but nine of the Mustangs' 18 baskets during that timeframe were three-point makes.

In the second half, Wells cut the deficit to seven points as late as 6:14 following a layup from junior Vaughndell Brantley (Syracuse, N.Y.), but Morrisville State reestablished a commanding lead down the stretch via free throws in the waning minutes. In total, the Mustangs missed only three out of 25 free throw attempts to secure the victory.

Joe Hulbert led the Mustangs with 25 points while Ibrahima Toure picked up 24 points for the hosts. As a team, Morrisville State finished the game by shooting 50.9% (29-for-57) while 21 of the team's 29 baskets were assisted.

Wells will travel to Cazenovia College this Sunday, Jan. 31 for a 1 p.m. contest.