Men's basketball falls at Saint Rose

ALBANY, New York -- The American International College men's basketball team lost an 86-72 Northeast-10 Conference contest on Wednesday, January 18.

AIC falls to 4-15 overall and 2-9 in the NE10.

The Golden Knights raced out to an 11-0 lead before AIC hit its first shot, a Kanye Wavezwa three. AIC was able to close the gap somewhat as the first half wore on, with a Jack Hall triple pulling AIC within six, and the score ebbed and flowed from there, with the home team building back up to an 11-point advantage only for AIC to string together several shots. Jalen Jordan closed AIC to within four with a jumper with 5:31 to play in the half, but the Golden Knights went on a 15-point run, and led by as much as 20 before Jordan hit a late three to send the teams to the break with a 44-27 Saint Rose edge.

The home side maintained its lead for much of the second half, keeping AIC down by 20 through six minutes, but AIC began to chip away at the advantage after that, starting a run with another Jordan deep shot and ending it down just 10 after Wavezwa landed his own three that Jordan set up. AIC continued to push, with Wavezwa personally scoring six in a row after being fouled shooting a three and making every free throw, and then landing a three on the next possession, narrowing the gap to just 69-64. However, AIC ran out of gas, and the Golden Knights hung on, building back up to the 86-72 win.

AIC had one of its best shooting nights of the year, hitting 12 threes total and firing 48.2 percent from the field; Omarion Jett-Dobbs led AIC with 18 points, while Jordan had 17 and Wavezwa 15. Those three in particular were hot, combining to go 18-of-29 from the field including 9-of-12 from deep.

AIC returns to action Saturday, January 21 at 3:30 p.m. against Franklin Pierce University.