HOUGHTON, N.Y. – The Houghton Highlanders fought back from a 17-point deficit, but came up short in the final seconds of the game as they dropped Saturday's matchup to the SUNY Canton Roos, 73-77.
 
Game Vitals:
      >Score:  SUNY Canton - 77   |   Houghton College - 73
      >Records:  SUNY Canton: 6-0   |   Houghton College: 4-2
      >Venue: Nielsen Center, Houghton College – attendance 102
 
Game Flow
First Half
      >SUNY Canton jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but the responded, leading by as many as seven with 9:00 to go in the first half.
      >After the Roos went on a 9-0 run, the game seesawed back-and-forth between the two teams until Sam Annorh converted a three-point play to put the Roos up 33-29 at the half.
 
Second Half
      >An 8-0 run early on put Canton up by as many as 10, after which the teams played fairly evenly through the mid-way point.
      >Canton opened up their lead to as many as 15 when Fletcher Romario converted six points in a three minute span.
      >Down by 13 with only :36 left on the clock, Tyler McQuaid (Lowman, NY, Twin Tiers Christian Academy) converted a pair of free throws and Phil Pellegrino (Rochester, NY, Alfred University) nailed a three.  A quick steal and layup by Johnathan Stowe (Toronto, ON, Canada, Don Mills Collegiate Institute) cut the lead to six.
      After a Houghton foul, Canton made the ensuing pair of free throws.
      Another Stowe layup, a quick steal and a three-pointer by Brandon Camacho (Dundee, NY, Dundee High School) brought the Highlanders with three with less than three seconds to play.  But another Roos free throw put the game out of reach.
 
Analysis:
      >Houghton shot only 31 percent from the floor (26-84)
      >Canton dominated in the paint, posting 50 of their 74 points between the blocks, rejecting nine Houghton shots and outrebounded the Highlanders for the first time this year, 52-63.
      >The Highlanders held advantages in both turnovers (16-23) and points scored off turnovers (23-11).
 
Clutch Performances:
The Highlanders:
      >Stowe led the Highlanders with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
      >Camacho scored 16 points and John Nelson (Houghton, NY, Christian Academy in Japan) collected 9 rebounds.
 
The Roos:
      >Annorh scored 26 points, including 8-10 from the line, and added four assists.  
      >Romario Fletcher scored 15 points and collected 16 rebounds.
 
 Coaches Corner:
"We had trouble guarding their speed.  [Canton is] long and athletic and they played very well.  Our guys played incredibly hard and we definitely can't fault them for that, but we missed a lot of open shots that we've made in earlier games. 
 
"It's tough to compare this team to the others we'll play in our conference because they play such a different style, but I think they could play with even the best teams we'll face." –Coach Drew Hannan
 
Next Time Out:
Houghton travels to Grove City College on Tuesday, December 8 to take on the Wolverines at 6:00 p.m.