ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Kevin Underwood led all scorers with 26 points for host Nazareth Friday as the Golden Flyers surged to their 13th straight men's basketball victory with a hard-fought 75-66 triumph over Alfred on Mike Daley Court at the Kidera Gymnasium.

Nazareth, ranked 25th nationally in the latest d3hoops.com poll, improved its overall record to 15-1 to go with a perfect 7-0 mark in Empire 8 Conference action. Alfred dropped to 10-7 overall and 3-5 in conference play. The teams meet again Feb. 18 at Alfred. Nazareth, in first place in the E8 standings, visits second-place St. John Fisher Saturday at 4 p.m.

Underwood's 26 points were just one point shy of his career-best of 27 from last season against Rochester. On Friday, he went 10-for-15 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free throw line. Stephen Gabel added 15 points and Logan Blankenberg had 10.

The game was tied 37-37 at halftime with Underwood scoring 13 of his points for Nazareth. A 6-2 scoring run to open the second half pushed the Saxons in front 43-39. Underwood then scored the next seven points to put Nazareth ahead to stay at 46-43 with less than 15 minutes to go. Alfred stayed close until another basket by Underwood and a three-pointer by Gabel stretched the lead to 61-52 with under 10 minutes to play.

Alfred stayed resilient and closed the gap again to three points, 67-64, with 2:09 to go. Nazareth then got a basket from Blankenberg and a three-pointer by Zach Stenglein to push the lead back to eight, 72-64. A free throw by Stenglein and two from Gabel in the closing minute sealed the deal.

Overall, Nazareth outscored Alfred 38-29 to pull away in the second half with the assistance of 53.6 percent shooting (15-for-28). Jonathan Park had seven points for Nazareth and a team-best eight rebounds.