Buffalo, NY – The SUNY Canton men's basketball team overcame a double digit second half deficit and led by one in the final seconds but a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining gave host Villa Maria College an 87-86 victory on Saturday evening.

Trailing by 10 at 53-43 with 13 minutes remaining in the contest the Roos (10-2) chipped away at the Vikings lead. SUNY Canton took its first lead of the second half with 7:22 remaining at 67-65 after Sam Annorh (Queens, NY) hit one of his four three-pointers. The teams would exchange the lead back-and-forth down the stretch with neither team leading by more than four points the remainder of the way.

Villa Maria (6-17) took an 83-79 lead with 1:28 remaining after a Donte Campbell lay-up. The Roos scored the next five points as Walt Jeter (For Drum, NY) hit a free throw and Annorh finished a pair of buckets in the paint to put SUNY Canton up 84-83 with 31 seconds remaining.

Campbell hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds remaining to put the Vikings back ahead by one. Vonallen Pickett (Brooklyn, NY) had a jumper blocked with five seconds remaining but Khalil Bratton (Queens, NY) grabbed the offensive rebound and laid it in with SUNY Canton leading 86-85 as time winded down. The Roos were whistled for a foul with four seconds remaining as Justin Stokes knocked down both of his free throws, which led to the Vikings victory. The Roos were unable to get off a shot in the final seconds.

Annorh paced the Roos with a career-high 32 points to go with eight assists and five rebounds on 10-for-21 shooting. His previous career-high was 31 points on December 6, 2014 against Houghton. Romario Fletcher (Queens, NY) posted his second straight double-double and fourth of the season with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Pickett added 16 points and eight boards, while Bratton chipped in 11 points.

Darius Huggins led the Vikings with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Campbell also added 20 in the scoring column. Stokes (17), DeJaun Owens (12) and Dominic Douglas (11) added double figure points for Villa Maria.

The hosts jumped out to a quick 8-0 start on their home court but the Roos responded scoring 17 of the next 25 points to open up a 17-16 lead midway through the first half. The Vikings led 35-30 at intermission.

Villa Maria shot 54 percent from the field and 50 percent from long distance, while the Roos recorded marks of 42 percent and 27 percent, respectively. SUNY Canton held a 52-30 edge in rebounding but turned the ball over 20 times.

The men's basketball team returns to the hardwood on Wednesday when it hosts Alfred State College at 7 p.m. in the Roos House.