HOUGHTON, NY—Devin Milton (24 points) and Keion Brooks (23 points) combined to score 47 points as the Keuka Wolves held off a furious comeback from the Houghton Highlanders for a 72-69 victory.
 
While Houghton took a three-point lead into the half, the Wolves came out hot in the second half, eventually building an 18-point advantage with only 10 minutes to play in the game.
 
But the Highlanders defense began to work, creating stop after stop, and created opportunities to trim the deficit.
 
After scoring only two points over a nearly-ten-minute stretch, Houghton reeled off an 11-0 run, capped by an Esafe Taufahema layup to trim the Keuka lead to single digits with 7:29 remaining on the clock.
 
The Wolves kept the Highlanders at bay for a couple more minutes before another Taufahema layup, and a Jajuan Preaster steal and dunk pulled Houghton within only four points. 
 
Brooks sank a layup, but Taufahema answered with a layup of his own followed by a steal and assist to David Rosa, and the Keuka lead was now only a single point.
 
Brooks then nailed a three, which Daniel Rosario answered seconds later with a three of his own.
 
Down to the wire they went before Milton and Will Tehan hit a pair of late buckets to put the Wolves up by five.  Rosa sank another layup with 12 seconds remaining, and Rosa grabbed the rebound off a missed free throw for one final look with only seconds left on the clock, but the Wolves stole an errant pass to close the game and seal the win.
 
GAME VITALS
Score: Houghton – 69 | Keuka – 72
Records: Houghton: 4-13 (3-7 Empire 8) | Keuka: 6-8 (2-7 Empire 8)
Venue: Dix Family Court, The Nielsen Center, Houghton College | Attendance: 215

NOTABLE STATS
>> For the fourth game in a row, Jajuan Preaster topped 20 points, scoring 24 to lead the Highlanders.  Preaster went 10-of-17 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds.  In his last four games, Preaster has scored 100 points (25 ppg), shooting 59% from the floor, while grabbing 30 rebounds (7.5 rpg). 
 
>> Taufahema finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while David Rosa earned his second double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 15 boards.  Rosa also dished out a team-high seven assists.
 
>> Milton became the 14^th player in Wolves history to surpass 1,000 points in a career.  He is currently averaging 20 points per game.  Brooks established a new career high with his 23 points.
 
COACH'S CORNER
"I want to give a lot of credit to Keuka in how they forced us to scramble and then found open shooters. That stretch where they went from down nine to up 18 was a clinic in attacking and ball movement; plus, the Wolves hit their shots.
 
"At the same time, our guys again showed incredible resilience in cutting that deficit to three late. There was a lot of pain in our locker room after the game. They know we are so close. I'm glad we'll have a full week of practice to work on what's causing these runs before our next one Saturday." – Head Coach Jeremy Bialek
 
UP NEXT
The Highlanders we be off until next Saturday, January 28, when they will host the Medaille Mavericks at 4:00 p.m.  Houghton defeated the Mavericks by one point, 71-70, earlier this season.