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ALBANY, N.Y. -- Junior Chris Jones scored a career-high 25 points and junior Tyler Stenglein added 21 Tuesday as visiting Nazareth broke open a close game late in the second half and pulled away to take an 88-74 men's basketball victory over Sage Colleges.

The game was the Empire 8 Conference opener for both teams. Nazareth won its second straight to improve to 6-3 overall. The Gators dropped to 4-5 overall. It was the first-ever Empire 8 Conference game for the Gators, who joined the league this season. The teams had met twice previously with Nazareth winning both on its home court.

Jones went 11 for 13 from the field, mostly on layups, to fuel Nazareth's offense. Stenglein's 21 points came on 9-for-16 shooting. He also passed for four assists. Freshman Stephen Gabel and junior Jake Burgio each added 13 points and 11 rebounds with Gabel also adding five assists. Junior Brendan Wind continued to ease himself back into the lineup following a first-semester injury as he contributed seven points and five assists in 23 minutes of action off the bench.

The game was close most of the way with Nazareth clinging to a one-point lead, 59-58, with 13:20 left. The Golden Flyers then closed the game by outscoring the Gators 29-16. Gabel scored nine of his points during that stretch, including a three-pointer and a tip in basket that followed a missed jumper by Wind. It was Wind who also delivered a three-point basket with 1:35 to go to extend Nazareth to its largest lead at 88-72.

Nazareth led 46-40 at halftime as Jones scored 15 of his points and Stenglein added 13. Nazareth was behind 39-37, before Stenglein scored six straight points. Freshman Jon Werner added a free throw and Wind scored with :04 left to close out the first 20 minutes.

Sage used a 14-8 scoring run to open the second half to grab a two-point lead, but sophomore Cody Green drained his lone three-pointer of the game on the next possession to give Nazareth a 55-54 lead and the Golden Flyers never trailed again.

Nazareth shot well, hitting 36 of 65 shots (55.4 percent), while Sage made 29 of 66 shots (43.9 percent). Barceem Dukes led the Gators with 18 points.

The Golden Flyers return to action Friday for a conference game at Utica at 6 p.m.