MORRISVILLE, N.Y. -  The SUNY Poly men's basketball team dropped their first North Atlantic Conference game of the year to SUNY Morrisville on Tuesday night 83-77. The Wildcats were led by Cheickne Toure, who had a career-high 33 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Wildcats traveled to face a familiar foe in SUNY Morrisville on Tuesday night to open up conference play for the 2023-24 season. The Wildcats would jump out to a 4-0 on baskets from Anthony Rose and Josh Ernst. Jakhi Lucas would kick off the scoring for the Mustangs, connecting from behind the three-point arc to make it a 4-3 game. Lucas would finish with a team-high 30 points for the Mustangs. Cheickne Toure would continue his hot start to the season for the Wildcats, scoring seven consecutive points for the Wildcats to push their lead to 19-13 with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half. Toure would again stay hot to end the first half, scoring the last five Wildcats points to extend their lead to 43-37 going into halftime.

In the second half, Shykell Brown would hit consecutive three-pointers to cut the Wildcats lead to 45-43 with 18 minutes to play. Jakhi would heat up in the second half and score seven consecutive points on a Mustangs run to tie the game at 53-53. Both teams would continue to exchange baskets and the game would continue to remain tight all the way until the finish. With one minute left to play, the Mustangs would push their lead to eight points on a layup from Daimarr Miller. The Wildcats wouldn't go away quietly, however, as Anthony Rose would connect on two free throws, and Toure would knock down a three-pointer to cut the Mustangs lead to 80-77. Free throws at the end would be the difference, as the Mustangs would sink three free throws to hold onto the 83-77 victory.

UP NEXT: The Wildcats will be back in action ton Friday night at 5:30 PM for a home matchup against SUNY Canton.