GENESEO, N.Y. - The SUNY Geneseo men's basketball team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday afternoon, and earned an 81-70 victory over Nazareth. The win improves the Knights record to 9-13 overall and 6-7 in Empire 8 play, while the Golden Flyers fall to 14-9 and 9-4 in conference action. Geneseo honored seniors Christian Sullivan, Greg Griffin, Michael Gentile, and Sebastian Pacheco in a pre-game ceremony.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Both teams were on fire early, with 22 points being scored inside the opening four minutes. However, Geneseo was able to hold the lead following the early scoring frenzy with a 13-9 lead behind nine points from Josh Garelle.
• Later in the half, Garelle knocked down his second three of the frame to extend the lead to 27-15. On the following possession, Colin Gentile converted from deep and the Knights held their largest lead of the game at 30-15. Nazareth found a way to regain some momentum before heading into halftime, cutting the advantage down to 11 points.
• Geneseo quickly extended its lead in the second half, after a layup Garelle and a three from Gentile made it 42-26. Geneseo's largest lead of the game came at 48-30 following a three point play from Jackson Casey.
• The Golden Flyers found a way to crawl back into the game and cut the deficit to five points, but a pair of big jump shots from Drew Morrow and a three from Colin Gentile brought the lead back under Geneseo's control. The Knights were able to convert enough free throws down the stretch to hold on for the 81-70 win.

QUICK FACTS:

• Garelle dropped a career-high 29 points on 9-13 shooting from the field and 9-10 shooting from the free throw line.
• Robert Pericolosi recorded a double-double on 10 points and 13 rebounds, while Gentile chipped in 12 points.
• Geneseo has now won four straight conference games, scoring over 80 points in all four contests.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Knights will head to Houghton on Friday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m.