BUFFALO, NY – The Medaille College Men's Basketball team returned to action today in their 2014-15 home opener. They faced off with AMCC opponent Mt. Aloysius College.

Medaille entered the game with a (2-3) overall record and a (1-1) record in AMCC contests.

Mt. Aloysius entered the game with a (4-3) overall record and a (2-1) AMCC record, coming off an (81-74) win over La Roche College in their last game.

Medaille jumped out to an early (6-0) lead in the first three minutes of action.

The Mounties rallied to tie the score up at (6-6) at the (14:55) mark of the first half.

The Mavs then went on an (11-6) run to take a (17-12) lead at the midway mark of the first half.

Medaille then extended their lead to (13) points at the (1:27) mark of the first half on a layup by Mike Hollenbeck (Ontario, NY, Wayne Central).

The Mounties ended the half on a seven point run to cut the lead to (34-28).

The Mounties' Tre Brown hit a half-court shot as time expired to cut the Mavericks' lead to six points.

Mt. Aloysius's Taylor Thomas led all scorers at the half with (14) points. He was (7-9) from the field.

Medaille's Mike Hollenbeck came off the bench and led Medaille with (9) points in the first half, shooting (4-6) from the field in (9) minutes of action.

The Mavericks came out strong to start the second half.

They extended their lead back to (12) points at the (12:19) mark of the first half on an impressive layup by Louie Oliveri (Buffalo, NY, St. Joseph's Collegiate).

Mt. Aloysius got back to within four points on a Tanner Thomas layup at the (8:04) mark of the second half, making the score (57-50).

Jammal Coleman (Rochester, NY, Aquinas Institute) put the Mavs back out in front by nine points, scoring five consecutive points.

The Mounties made things interesting consecutive points for the Mavs, including a three-point play.

A pair of free throws by Johnathan Belton (Amherst, NY, Amherst) put the Mavs up (70-57) with (2:14) remaining on the clock.

The Mounties made it interesting in the final minute of play. With just (:58.9) seconds left,

Tre Brown converted a three-point play to get the Mounties back within six points at (71-65).

A pair of Jammal Coleman free throws put the Mavericks back out in front by eight points with (:57.8) seconds left.

A quick bucket by Darius Beresford got the Mounties back within six points again at (73-67) with (:52.3) remaining on the clock.

Jammal Coleman converted one of two free throws to get the Mavericks lead back to seven.

Another quick bucket by Mt. Aloysius cut the lead to five points at (74-69).

Two more Jammal Coleman free throws made the score (76-69).

A defensive stand by the Mavericks ending with a blocked shot by senior Cooper Calzonetti (Neptune, NJ, Neptune High School) sealed the deal for the Mavericks as they then extended their lead back out to nine points (78-69) on a pair of free throws by Chris Willingham (Nashville, TN, East Literature).

A three pointer by the Mounties' Jason Jones got Mt. Aloysius back within six points, but the Mavericks then ended the game on a four point run to win (82-72).

One of the key reasons the Mavericks won was because they won the turnover battle (19-11) and got to the line more often, shooting (22-29) from the line, compared to My. Aloysius who shot (10-13) from the charity stripe.

Following his first career home victory head coach Mike Blaine said, "I was extremely pleased with the consistency of our effort over the course of forty minutes tonight, although we had slight drop-offs in execution, we sustained a high level of effort over the course of forty minutes. If we can continue to build upon this effort, we'll be able to achieve great success this year."

Mount Aloysius was able to outshoot the Mavericks (43.9%) - (38.6%) and edged the Mavericks on the boards (41) - (34).

In the win, Jammal Coleman led the Mavericks with a game-high (26) points, as he made several key shots and free throws down the stretch to seal the win for the Mavericks.

Chris Willingham had (15) points for the Mavericks in the win. Ryan Grandits (Kenmore, NY, Kenmore West High School) had a season high (14) points, coming off the bench for the Mavericks. Johnathan Belton narrowly missed a double-double as he scored (9) points and had a game high (11) rebounds.

Medaille returns to action on Monday when they host SUNY Morrisville. The game is scheduled to start at 6:00 pm.