Box Score
BUFFALO N.Y. - The D'Youville men's basketball team nearly dug themselves out of an early hole Monday evening but were unable to finish the comeback, falling in nonconference action to Buffalo State at the College Center Gym. The 84-75 setback drops the Saints to 1-6 on the season.
Freshman guard Mason Putnam kickstarted the D'Youville offense with three 3-pointers for D'Youville's first nine points. Junior forward Garrian Wade tacked on three more with a three of his own to cut an early Bengal lead to 15-12. Buffalo State took control of the game with a 14-1 run, after Wade's bucket, to create a 16-point spread with nine minutes remaining in the first half.
Trailing by 14 points with three minutes remaining in the half, D'Youville rattled off eight unanswered points to pull within six points at the halftime buzzer. The run included a layup and three from sophomore forward Noah Denz as well as Putnam's fourth three of the half.
A back-and-forth opening to the second half kept the Saints behind the Bengals until first-year guard Nelson St. Louis drilled a three to give the Saints a 52-51 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game. The teams traded leads twice more in the next two minutes, including a layup from sophomore forward Chris Stineman to put the Saints back up by one at 54-53. The Bengals reclaimed their advantage with an 8-0 stretch to put the Saints behind by seven with six minutes to go in the game.
Freshman guard Latrell Butler cut the D'Yovuille deficit back down to three points at 61-58 a minute later but a 10-3 run by Buffalo State put the Saints back down by nine with only three and a half minutes remaining.
Putnam (7-16 FG) and St. Louis (6-16 FG) led the D'Youville offense with 19 points apiece ... Denz also landed in double figures with 12 points (5-11 FG) … Butler picked up the game's only double-double with 10 rebounds and 10 assists … Butler was three points shy of a triple-double.
D'Youville cashed in on a season-high 10 threes on 29 attempts (34.5-percent) … The Saints shot 36.8-percent from the field as Buffalo State shot a better 45.9-percent … D'Youville edged the Bengals on the boards, 48-45.
The Saints will open East Coast Conference play on Friday, Dec. 10 when they host Bridgeport. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. at the College Center Gym.
Friday's conference opener can be seen on the ECC Network and fans can track the action on Live Stats. Make sure to follow the Saints on Instagram (@dycmbb) and Twitter (@DYOUVILLEMBB).
