HOUGHTON, N.Y. – Less than 20 hours after battling against each other Friday night, Houghton and Nazareth men's basketball faced each other again Saturday afternoon, with the visiting Golden Flyers taking game two, 67-50, in the Nielsen Center.

The Highlanders came out strong defensively, forcing several early Nazareth turnovers, but the visitors were still able to build an early lead and led by eight with 6:47 to go in the first half. Houghton got back-to-back threes by Koen Rolleman and Andrew Wright to trim the deficit to two (26-24) with just over five minutes to go. However, both teams went cold down the stretch with Nazareth outscoring Houghton 4-0 to take a 30-24 into the break.

Nazareth controlled most of the play in the second half. They quickly pushed the lead to double-digits and kept the advantage between 10 and 15 points for the majority of the second half. Their largest lead was 18 with 1:51 to go.

GAME VITALS
Score: Houghton – 50 | Nazareth – 67
Records: Houghton: 0-4 (0-4 Empire 8) | Nazareth: 5-1 (5-0 Empire 8)
Venue: Nielsen Center | Houghton College | Attendance: 0

NOTABLE STATS
>> Neither team shot well from the field, with Nazareth converting on 36.8 percent of their shots and Houghton just 33.3 percent
>> Billy McCrae led the Highlanders with 12 points and 8 rebounds
>> Jajuan Preaster finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds, while Darren Clark contributed 7 points and 7 rebounds off the bench
>> Stephen Gabel led all scorers with 23 points for Nazareth, while teammates Zach Stenglein (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Jonathan Park (11 points, 11 rebounds) each contributed double-doubles
>> Houghton's Jordan Holmes scored 1 point and need 33 to reach 1,000 for his career

COACH'S CORNER
"I am really proud of the way the guys battled today. We had one of our best defensive games we have ever had here, but Nazareth is a really talented, experienced, and well-coached team. They defended better than we did today. They forced us into some tough looks, and ultimately we did not get enough of those shots to fall. Although the loss hurts, we are seeing growth and improvement. We look forward to getting better on Monday as we prep for Elmira." -- Head Coach Lance Westberg
 
UP NEXT
The Highlanders are back in the Nielsen Center when they take on Elmira on Tuesday, March 16 at 7 p.m.