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ROCHESTER, NY – Nazareth hung on to defeat Alfred College 59-56 in Empire 8 women's basketball Friday night. Alfred's Sarah Federico scored a three-pointer with six seconds remaining in the game to pull the Saxons within one point, 57-56.  Nazareth's Erica Shaw was fouled on the next possession and sank both of her free throws to secure the 59-56 win for the Golden Flyers. Harley Cleary's desperation three-point attempt glanced off the rim in the closing seconds to preserve the Golden Flyers' victory.
 
Nazareth is now 7-12 and 4-5 in the Empire 8.  The Saxon's are 5-13 and 0-9 in the conference. With the victory, the Golden Flyers stand in fifth-place in the conference standings. Nazareth trails fourth-place Utica, who stand at 5-4 in Empire 8 contests, by only one game. The top four teams earn spots in the conference tournament, which is being held February 23rd-24th.
 
The Golden Flyers led by seven points, 20-13 with 8:01 left in the first half.  The Saxons then went on a 7-0 run to tie the score 20-20 with 6:26 left. The score was tied again 24-24 with 4:14 left before Alfred scored the final five points of the half to take a 29-24 lead at the end of the period.
 
The teams traded baskets at the start of the second half.  Nazareth's Veronica Peck tied the score 35-35 with 12:07 left in the second with a made free-throw.  The score was tied again at 9:10 when Alfred's Harley Cleary sunk two free throws.  Hannah Runyon scored two free throws of her own at 8:52 to give the Golden Flyers the advantage again, 40-38.  
 
Nazareth built on its' lead and was up by eight points, 51-43, with 3:56 left in the game. The Saxon's chipped their way back coming within one point twice in the final two minutes with just 1:21 and :06 left.  
 
The Golden Flyers shot just 5 percent from behind the arc in the game making just 1-of-20.  Both teams shot 34 percent from the field but Nazareth had 71 attempts to Alfred's 50 and also out-rebounded the Saxons 51-40.  
 
Alfred was led by Cleary who finished with a team high 19 points.
 
Lindsey Kelly finished with a game-high 21 points for Nazareth and also had 15 boards. Maria Alloco had a game-high 16 rebounds and also scored nine points.  Peck finished with 12 points for the Golden Flyers.
 
Nazareth travels to Houghton on January 29 for a 6 pm game before returning home next Friday, February 1 to host Ithaca at 6 pm.