BUFFALO, New York - With the temperature dropping in blustery Buffalo, the Salem men's basketball team was set to take on the D'Youville Saints for a Saturday afternoon road contest. Salem had a fight on their hands from the opening tip, but came away with a tough 68-64 win. 

In the first half, Salem got out to a great start with Justin Tene and Ashraf Tchadouwa using their size advantage on the Saints to really control the paint on both sides of the floor. That interior play paired with some big shots from Riley Heatherington and Brandon Francois brought the Tiger's advantage to as much as 12. However, the Saints were not about to run out of their home gym, and battled back when Salem got into some foul trouble late in the half. By the halftime break, the score stood at just 35-34 favoring Salem.

For the second period, the Saints continued their swing, and tried to pull away from the Tigers. However, Salem kept the game close with some much needed scoring from Stan Smith and Rodney Smith. The game remained tight down the stretch, but Salem found their advantage thanks to some tough interior play from Heatherington and Fope Okuyiga. The Saints hit a three with just 15 seconds left to bring the game within three. However, a Rodney Smith free throw pushed the Salem lead back up to 4, and two D'Youville desperation threes in the closing seconds failed to find the bottom of the net. Therefore, Salem espcaded with a tough 68-64 win over D'Youville. 

On the scorecard, the star of the show was clearly Riley Heatherington who earned a double double with 13 points and 16 rebounds. Rodney Smith actually tied his teammate 13 points as well. Fope Okuyiga dropped in 12 points, and Stan Smith rounded out the Tigers in double figures with 10 points. 

After this impressive performance, Salem will be set for a grudge match in their next contest at home. They play host to the Tiffin Dragons on January 25th at 6 PM, and will be looking to avenge an early season loss the Dragons handed them at Tiffin on November 28th.