UTICA, NY – The Nazareth men's basketball team let a 22-point halftime lead slip away as the Golden Flyers fell 87-77 to Utica University on Saturday. Junior Jaylen Savage led all scorers with 24 points, to go along with eight rebounds and four assists.
 
Nazareth falls into second place in the Empire 8 with the loss, now trailing Brockport for the top spot – the two squads square off on Friday in Brockport at 7:30 p.m. The Golden Flyers are now 14-6 overall and 9-2 in conference play, while Utica is 13-7 and 7-4, respectively.
 
It was a great start for Nazareth as a 3-pointer from Ryan Broderick at the 13:29 mark gave the visitors a 15-6 lead.  Utica never really challenged in the half and the lead was 45-23 at the break. 
 
After shooting just 29 percent in the first half, the Pioneers turned it around to shoot 54.3 percent in the second on 19-for-35 from the floor.
 
The Golden Flyers largest lead was 53-27 early in the second half. Nazareth then went ice cold from the floor over a nearly ten-minute span, shooting just 1-for-14, allowing the Pioneers to go on a 24-4 run to close within 57-51.
 
Nazareth held the lead until a bucket at the 3:05 mark tied the game at 64. 
 
Savage buried a pair of free throws to go up 70-68 with :21 seconds remaining but Utica converted a rebound to tie the game as time expired and send the game into overtime.
 
Utica dominated the overtime, outscoring Nazareth 17-7.
 
Solomon McFarlane converted 5-of-10 3-pointers en route to 17 points, to go along with six rebounds, and four steals.
 
Merritt Holly was good for 14 points and seven boards, while Tyler Putney had 10 points and six rebounds.