GEORGETOWN, TX – The SUNYIT Men's Basketball Team (0-6) played an inspired second half in the Lonestar State Monday night, but it wasn't enough as the team fell to the Pirates of Southwestern University, 73-61.

The Wildcats staked the Pirates to a 21-point lead in the first half, as Southwestern was deadly from 3-pt range, hitting 10 threes on the game while shooting at a 42% clip.

SUNYIT came back in the second half, however, cutting the lead all the way down to 6 points late in the second half. The Wildcats did a good job of sharing the ball down the stretch, as primary ballhandlers Alex Drake (Lansingville, N.Y. / Lansinburgh) and Desmian Greer (Washington Heights, N.Y. / Chesire Academy) found each other for crucial three-pointer late in the game. Drake finished the game 2 of 4 from three-point range, while Greer led SUNYIT with 19 points, taking particular advantage of the charity stripe in nailing 8 of 11 freebies.

New Wildcat addition Ryan James (Saratoga Springs, N.Y. / Saratoga Springs) contributed 7 points in his first game back. James was a starter and key contributor for the Wildcats during the 2011-12 season, and rejoins the team after taking a semester off in the fall.

For Southwestern, it was Travis Kurtz and Michael Cantu combining for 50 of the team's 73 points in the win. Kurtz was 6 of 10 from beyond the arc, while Cantu made all three of his long-distance tries, as well as 7 of 8 from the free throw line.

The Wildcats did the majority of their damage in the second half on an 11-3 run during a two-minute stretch ending at the 2:44 mark, which pulled SUNYIT to within striking distance at 64-57. Playing a key role in multiple stretches for the Wildcats in the second half was T'Andre Richardson (Utica, N.Y. / Utica-Proctor), who anchored SUNYIT in the paint as the Wildcats went with a smaller lineup in the second half in order to pressure the Pirates full-court. Richardson finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 steals on the game, leading the Wildcats in the latter two categories.

The Wildcats will exercise their selective memory as they try to forget Monday's first half and build on the second as they take on Trinity (TX) tomorrow at 4:00 pm Central Time.