Meadville, PA – The SUNY Canton men's basketball team used a quick start and strong finish to defeat Fredonia 80-72 in the season opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at the Greg Richards Memorial Tip-Off Tournament in the David V. Wise Center.

The Roos (1-0) jumped out to a quick 16-6 lead just five minutes into the contest after a three-pointer from point guard Sam Annorh (Queens, NY), one of six triples the sophomore had on the day. Back-to-back buckets in the paint from Romario Fletcher (Queens, NY) and Annorh gave SUNY Canton a 23-8 advantage 8:21 into the game.

The Roos opened up their largest advantage of the contest at 18 (34-16) after Adam Felt (Lisbon, NY) drained one of his four three-pointers. The Blue Devils closed the gap before the half but SUNY Canton still held a commanding 46-35 lead at break. Felt was huge off the bench for the Roos with 12 points in the opening half making a team-best four treys in the stanza.

Fredonia stormed out of intermission scoring eight straight points to trim the lead to three after an Ian Helps layup in transition. After two ties the Blue Devils took their first lead after a Helps free throw and lay-in from Robert Lyles, their first lead since scoring the games opening bucket.

With the game tied at 60 apiece with 8:30 remaining the Roos used a key 12-3 run that included five points each from Khalil Bratton (Queens, NY) and Annorh that gave SUNY Canton a nine point lead with 3:15 remaining. Five straight points from Fredonia trimmed the Roo lead to four with 2:41 remaining, but Fletcher used an old-fashioned three-point play to extend the lead to seven as SUNY Canton earned the 80-72 victory.

Annorh led all players with 27 points on 9-for-16 shooting including a 6-for-10 mark from beyond the arc. He added six assists, five steals and four rebounds playing all 40 minutes. Bratton posted a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds to go with his three assists and two steals. Felt was the other Roo in double digits with 14 points in just 15 minutes off the bench, while Fletcher added nine points.

The Roos shot 43 percent from the field, while Fredonia hit on 51 percent of its attempts. However, the Roos shot a blistering 44 percent from three-point range in the contests and held a slim 38-35 edge on the glass. The Blue Devils held a big advantage in points in the paint (56-26), while the Roos controlled bench points (19-7).

The men's basketball team will return to action on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. in the championship game of the Greg Richards Memorial Tip-Off Tournament. The Roos will face the winner of host Allegheny College and Pit-Titusville.