(Canton, N.Y.)-The SUNY Canton men's basketball came up just short in a spirited effort Saturday night as they lost to Sunrise Conference leaders Fisher College 91-89 at Maxcy Hall.  The Roos fell to 1-5 in the league and 3-13 overall while the Falcons stayed unbeaten in the conference moving to 7-0 and 20-1 overall.  

Fisher has not lost a game since last November and has received voted in the NAIA Division II national poll the last several weeks.

The Roos fell behind by 14 at halftime, 51-37, but clawed their way back in second half outscoring the Falcons 52-40 while shooting an impressive 56 percent from the floor.

The Falcons lead swelled to as much as 17 points several times in the second but the Roos kept fighting and pulled with five points for most of the remaining 10 minutes of the game.

Deric Alston (Jacksonville, N.C.) pulled the Roos within three points at 81-78 scoring on a three-point play off a nice fast-break feed from Tony Valentin (Perth Amboy, N.J.) with 4:37 left.  

After Fisher misfired on their next possession Valentin fed Eddie Mitchell (Syracuse, N.Y.) on the right-wing and the junior transfer nailed a 3-pointer tying the game for the first time since the 16:36 mark of the first half.

But then the Roos went cold at the wrong time missing six of their final 10 shots and the Falcons came up with several big offensive rebounds and put backs in the final three minutes to secure the win.

Carlton Mitchell (Bronx, N.Y.) fired in six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 24 points to lead the Roos.

Valentin finished with 20 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.  Alston had 14 points and four rebounds and Jajuan Williams (Jacksonville, N.C.) added 14 points and four assists.

Jasmin Handanovic led the Falcons with 29 points and 13 rebounds.  Louis Williams added 23 points, six assists and five rebounds.