WASHINGTON - The SUNY Poly Men's Basketball Team (4-9, 3-2 NEAC) came up with a big conference win Sunday, surviving the long road trip to Washington, D.C. with a 55-50 win over Gallaudet University (7-5, 3-3 NEAC). 

A day after doing it with offense, the Wildcats did it with defense, forcing 26 Bison turnovers on the day.

SUNY Poly didn't do the best job of securing the basketball either with 22 turnovers, but did enough to win on the road, always an impressive feat.

Maverick Hodge (Bronx, N.Y. / Samuel Gompers) turned in a performance somewhat indicative of the Wildcats as a whole. In a bit of an up-and-down game for Hodge, he committed a team-high 7 turnovers but also led the team in points (16), rebounds (7), and tied Ryan McCarthy (Camden, N.Y. / Camden) for the lead in steals.

On balance the good outweighed the bad for both Hodge and SUNY Poly as a whole.

Kaleel Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y. / Syr. Acad. of Science) followed up his season-best performance of a day ago with another solid game, scoring 14 points on 5-11 shooting.

Raymond Nelson led the Bison in scoring with 15 points on 7 of 12 shooting, however his 8 turnovers was also a game-high.

The Wildcats will now return home to host the Mustangs of Morrisville State this Wednesday. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm to follow the women's game.