BUFFALO — Aaliyah Graham (Huntington/Elwood-John Glenn) and Caleh McLean (New Rochelle/New Rochelle) each tallied career bests with 19 points apiece to pace Buffalo State to a 64-59 victory over visiting Houghton tonight at the Sports Arena.
Graham finished 7 of 11 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. McLean was 6 of 8 at the charity stripe and 6 of 16 from the floor. Taylor Graham (Santa Rosa, CA/Maria Carrillo) added 11 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. Princella McCullough (Rochester/Bishop Kearney) was held in check largely due to foul trouble, finishing with just four points, but still managed to pull down 12 rebounds. The back-and-forth game was tied 12 times and featured 13 lead changes.
Houghton opened the contest on a 6-0 run and held the game’s largest lead by eight points midway through the first quarter. The Bengals responded with a 14-2 run and led 21-19 after the opening 10 minutes. Buffalo State maintained the two-point advantage at halftime and led by just one entering the final frame. The Bengals pushed their lead to six with an Aaliyah Graham 3-pointer with 7:29 remaining and never trailed again. The Highlander cut the deficit to three with 14 seconds left, but Taylor Graham put the game out of reach with a pair of free throws at the other end. Buffalo State hit seven 3-pointers, outscoring Houghton 21-12 from long range. Houghton held a 19-11 advantage at the free throw line.
Buffalo State will host Alfred State in another non-conference game next Tuesday at 6 p.m.
from BuffaloStateAthletics.com via IFTTT
