ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Despite outscoring their opponent in the second half, the Houghton Highlanders could not overcome an 11-point halftime deficit as they fell to the Nazareth Golden Flyers, 83-90.
 
The Highlanders clawed their way back into contention in the second half, and with eight minutes remaining in the game Phil Pellegrino converted a three-point play to trim the Nazareth lead to only one point.
 
While Houghton kept the game close for a short period of time, they could not capture the lead, and the Golden Flyers slowly extended their lead back to double-digits.
 
A three-pointer by Carl Holmes would pull Houghton back to within five, but only five seconds remained on the clock and the Highlanders could not pull off the miraculous. 
 
Game Vitals
Score: Houghton – 83 | Nazareth – 90 
Records: Houghton: 8-13 (3-9 Empire 8) | Nazareth: 14-7 (8-4 Empire 8)
Venue: Kidera Gymnasium, Nazareth College | Attendance: 412

Key Stats
>> Houghton continued their red-hot second half shooting, draining 20-of-31 shots (65 percent) from the floor in the final 20 minutes.  The Highlanders actually outshot the Golden Flyers for the entirety of the game, converting 55 percent of their shots compared to only 44 percent for Nazareth.

>> Perhaps the key stat of the game was that they Golden Flyers committed only five turnovers, while the Highlanders committed 11.

>> While Houghton sank 9-of-12 free throws, Nazareth went to the line 32 times, converting on 25 of their attempts.
 
>> Five Highlanders scored in double-digits, including Pellegrino (21 points) and Dylan Lambert (18 points, six rebounds).  John Nelson collected 10 points and a team-high eight assists, and Carl Holmes added 11 points off the bench.
 
>> Johnathan Stowe posted his twelfth double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and ripping down 14 rebounds.
 
>> Brendan Wind scored a game-high 29 points for the Golden Flyers and added seven assists.
 
Coach's Corner
"We competed for 40 minutes.  Our guys come out ready to battle every night.  I love our approach.

"Naz is a well-coached team.  Coach Broderick does an excellent job with those guys.  They execute and play hard.  Their ball pressure bothered us a little bit early, but we executed much better in the second half.  Unfortunately, they dominated us on the offensive glass.  That was the difference in the game tonight.

"Brendan Wind was really good for them tonight.  We actually did a pretty good job on him.  We made him do what we wanted him to do, but he made some great plays and made his teammates better.

"23 assists show that we share the ball well and executed, but it's hard to come out on top when we give up 21 offensive rebounds.

"Stow was a beast.  He dominated in the paint.  We probably should have went to him more.

"[Lambert] and [Pellegrino] were steady as usual.  [Pellegrino] hit some big shots in key moments for us.  

"John Nelson and Jordan Scott were patient and distributed the ball to our scorers from the center spot and guard spot.

"I can't say enough about how our guys compete.  I would take any of these guys in my fox hole.  I love these guys." -Coach Corky McMullen

Next Time Out
The Highlanders return to the Nielsen Center on Friday for a rematch with the Utica College Pioneers at 8:00 p.m.  The Pioneers took game-one of this year's matchups, defeating the Highlanders, in Utica, 67-53.