Canton, NY – Junior Romario Fletcher (Queens, NY) tied a season-high with 26 points to lead the SUNY Canton men's basketball team to an 86-76 victory against visiting Villa Maria College on Saturday at the Roos House.

With the win the Roos improve to 17-3, one win more than last season. The 17 wins are the most in a season for SUNY Canton since the 1997-98 team went 19-8.

The Roos never trailed jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead behind a three-pointer from Vonallen Pickett (Brooklyn, NY) and a pair of buckets inside from Matt Spencer (Gouverneur, NY) and Fletcher. The hosts led by as many as nine after a steal and dunk from Fletcher 6:18 into the contest. SUNY Canton took a 35-31 lead into intermission.

Fletcher paced SUNY Canton with 16 points shooting 8-for-9 from the field in just 11 minutes of first half action. Pickett joined him in double figures with 10 points. Justin Stokes led the Vikings (7-23) with 12 points.

Much like the start of the game, the Roos scored eight of the first 12 points in the second half including another thunderous slam from Fletcher.
Villa Maria used a 7-0 run over a span of two minutes to tie the game at 49 with 11:31 remaining. The Roos responded with a 13-2 run that included three baskets on the break, while hitting a three-pointer and going 4-for-4 from the line.

Kevin Baksh (Queens, NY) produced a nice string of plays hitting back-to-back long balls and then laid the ball off the board for a Khalil Bratton (Queens, NY) throw down in transition that brought the Roos House crowd to their feet. The play extended SUNY Canton's lead to their largest of the contest at 12 with 3:42 to play. The Vikings never got closer than seven points the remainder of the game.

Fletcher led all players with 26 points and nine rebounds shooting 13-for-16 from the field in just 26 minutes of action. Sam Annorh (Queens, NY) posted his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 assists in 24 minutes. Pickett chipped in 14 points, and Baksh and Kam Peterkin (Harlem, NY) added eight and seven points, respectively.

Stokes had an impressive outing for the Vikings with 23 points hitting on nine of his 13 field goal attempts. Darius Huggins and Kirby Driscoll added 12 points apiece, while Dominic Douglas chipped in 11.

Both teams shot the ball well as SUNY Canton hit 53 percent of its shots and the Vikings knocked down 52 percent of their field goals. The difference in the game was on the glass as SUNY Canton held a commanding 45-18 edge, turning 19 offensive rebounds into a 23-6 advantage in second chance points.

The men's basketball team has a quick turnaround as it hosts the College of St. Joseph at the Roos House on Sunday at 3 p.m. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the SUNY Canton Athletics department by "liking" us on Facebook and "following" our Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts.

About SUNY Canton
SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses, as well as 10 exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The college's 14 athletic teams compete as members of the NCAA Division III and the USCAA.