MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Men's Basketball Team (7-3, 2-2 NEAC) had its five-game win streak snapped on Tuesday afternoon, falling to defending  NEAC Champion Morrisville State (6-5, 3-2 NEAC) by one bucket, 88-86.

It was a shootout from the get-go, with both teams finishing the game well over 50% from the field. Each team placed five players in double-figures, and both knocked down 7 three-pointers on the afternoon.

After holding a 50-49 lead at halftime, the Wildcats were able to extend their advantage to as many as 14 points on an Alonzo Grainger (Syracuse, N.Y. / Liverpool) three-ball with 10:51 to play.

But senior point guard Brandon Hanks would score the next 7 straight points for the Mustangs to cut the lead back to seven, and a Tom Wilk layup a few minutes later would cap a 14-2 Morrisville run that found the home team down just two, 77-75, with 6:34 to go.

The two teams would trade buckets for the next few minutes until Grainger came up with another big three-pointer to give SUNYIT their biggest lead since before the Morrisville run, 84-80 with 2:35 to play. Just as before, however, Grainger's basket proved a bad omen, as Mustang leading scorer Jordan Prior answered right back with a three of his own to cut the lead back to one.

On the next SUNYIT possession Kaleel Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y. / Syr. Acad. of Science) made a layup to give the Wildcats an 86-83 lead, but with over two minutes still to play, the basket would prove to be the last points scored by the Wildcats. From there the Mustangs would hit a pair of free throws before Jordan Prior made the go-ahead layup with 1:06 to play.

Hanks, who finished with a game-high 20 points, made a free throw with 9 seconds left to give the game its final score of 88-86.

For SUNYIT it was Kaleel Johnson leading in points, as the sophomore forward recorded a season-high 19 points on 9-of-16 from the field. Behind him was 6-6 freshman Sallo Fofana (Bronx, N.Y. / George Washington) with 18 points on 9-of-14. Fofana contributed 3 blocks and tied for the team-lead with 6 rebounds in a game that contained precious few of them.

For the Mustangs, Prior and Wilk added 16 points apiece to go along with Hanks's 20, and Wilk recorded one of two double-doubles on the afternoon. The other belonged to SUNYIT point guard Maverick Hodge (Bronx, N.Y. / Samuel Gompers), who played an absolutely stellar game with 11 points and 10 assists to just a single turnover. Hodge also added 3 steals, and his 10 assists were a season-high.

The Wildcats will be off through the weekend before traveling to Wells College for more NEAC action on Monday, January 20^th. The game – which was rescheduled from earlier in the season due to weather – is set to begin at 7:00 pm.