MARCY, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Men's Basketball Team (9-4, 4-3 NEAC) kept the pressure on in the second half of their 74-68 victory Saturday, and it paid off as the Wildcats earned a tough win over the Gallaudet Bison (4-10, 3-4 NEAC).

The game was close wire-to-wire, but after losing the lead with 14:52 to go in the second half on a dunk by Bison forward Joshua McGriff, the Wildcats would not regain the lead until a free throw by Alexander Drake (West Sand Lake, N.Y. / Lansingburgh) with just five minutes to go in the game. From there, however, back-to-back threes from Alonzo Grainger (Syracuse, N.Y. / Liverpool) gave the Wildcats a 6-point lead, and SUNYIT held on from there to get their fourth conference victory of the year.

Drake led all scorers with 17 points, knocking down 3 of his 5 three-point attempts while adding 5 boards and an impressive 5 steals. The Wildcats forced 22 Bison turnovers on the day, and might've pulled away earlier if not for 24 of their own.

Guard Malcolm Jones (Syracuse, N.Y. / Fowler) recorded a double-double for the Wildcats, scoring 12 points and pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds.

SUNYIT shot 48% for the game and connected on 7 of 19 from long range (37%). The Bison were deadly from beyond the arc as well, hitting 9 of 23, but struggled from the free throw line in hitting just 9 of 21 freebies.

SUNYIT will have another home game tomorrow as they host the Penn St.-Abington Nittany Lions. Game time is set for 12:00 pm.