MANCHESTER, New Hampshire - It was a tale of two halves, with an unhappy ending, as the American International College men's basketball team fell 77-64 at Southern New Hampshire University on Wednesday, January 10 in Northeast-10 Conference play.

AIC is now 5-9 overall and 3-5 in the NE10.

It was a back-and-forth early as the Penmen jumped to a 9-4 lead, but Aguibou Balde countered a three with one of his own off of a feed from Jalen Jordan, and a few possessions later, Kanye Wavezwa flipped the script with two hits from beyond the arc thanks to feeds from Lovre Zaja to take a 13-10 advantage. Justice Ellison then entered the book with an and-one, and AIC had an answer for every Penmen make through the first 12 minutes. 

The lead stretched late in the half. Wavezwa drew a foul that sent him to the line for a one-and-one and a technical against the SNHU bench ultimately provided the second-year player with four free throws, which he knocked in. A few more field goals and free throws late in the frame pushed the AIC lead to as high as 39-25, although the Penmen scored the final three points of the half.

In the second, the script flipped. The Penmen clawed back to within a single possession less than five minutes in, and tied the game at 49-49 on an Alex Rivera triple just past the midpoint. From there, their offense exploded, outscoring AIC 28-15 to take the win.

Balde shot 8-of-12 to lead AIC with 21 points, along with seven rebounds; Ellison notched 19 and 7 while Wavezwa scored 13. 

The Yellow Jackets will look to shake off the setback when Pace University visits Springfield on Saturday, January 13 at 3:30 p.m.