ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Villa Maria College men's basketball team took on Bryant and Stratton-Rochester on Wednesday in their third matchup of the season. Similar to the other two games, the two teams were evenly matched and went down to the final minutes of regulation. The Vikings fell by a final score of 87-82 and that moves their record to 1-9, while the Bobcats move to 4-7 as the year enters the final stretch.
 
Villa outscored the opposition 42-34 in the first half and it started with a layup by Juwan Beale in the opening seconds. The two units were back-and-forth in the first ten minutes of the game, with the Bobcats holding a slight 17-16 edge with nine minutes on the clock. Trent Cordone knocked down a three-pointer to take the lead and the Vikings began to build on it. Cordone made another pair of threes before Jaylin Rose joined the three-point party and put the team ahead 28-22 with five minutes to play. The advantage grew to double digits at the 3:38 mark, as Beale finished in a difficult shot. After a run by the opposition, Villa was able to go into the half with an eight-point advantage.
 
A Kevin Goode layup kicked off the second frame and put the team ahead by ten. After trading baskets, the Bobcats mounted a comeback with a 17-0 run that put the Vikings behind 56-49 with 12:39 to play. Goode stopped the bleeding with a three pointer and then neither team was able to pull away. A three by Tim Payne and a converted and-1 by Master Radford kept the deficit at two. Down the stretch the closest the team got to tying the game was with 40 seconds left when Goode hit another three, but team was unable to finish the job and fell by a final score of 87-83.
 
Goode had another strong game, scoring 28 points on 10-for-17 from the field and 5-for-8 from three. In addition, he distributed with seven assists and grabbed five rebounds. Cordone had the second highest point total, scoring 16 points in 24 minutes off of the bench. He was 6-for-11 from the field and knocked down four threes. Beale and Radford each finished with double-digit scoring, collected 13 points and 11 points respectively.
 
The Vikings remain on the road for their next contest on Monday, March 22. They will take on Niagara County Community College at 8 p.m.
 
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