SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - The Union College men's basketball team nearly climbed all the way back from a 16-point second-half deficit, but the team came up one basket short in a 78-76 loss to Saint Joseph's College of Maine on day one of the 2022 Sig Makofski Invitational, held on Saturday afternoon at Viniar Athletic Center.

First-year Aren Cummings led five Union (0-4) players in double figures with 15 points and eight rebounds, while classmate Lemar Fulmore Jr. also put up 11 points and added three steals. Seniors Mike Manley and Justin Regis chipped in 11 points each as well, and classmate Brian Noone had the team's only double-double with 10 points and a game-best 12 rebounds. 

Ashtyn Abbott had a huge game for Saint Joseph's (3-3), hitting 12-of-16 shots from the field on the way to a game-high 27 points. Griffin Foley added 17 points and Nicholas Curtis scored 12 as well for the Monks.

With the win, Saint Joseph's advances to tomorrow's championship game at 4 p.m. against SUNY Poly, which came back 13 down in the first half to defeat St. Joseph's University of Long Island, 68-59, in Saturday's first game. Union and SJU-LI will face off in the consolation game at 2 p.m.

The home team scored the first four points of the game on a Cummings layup and a pair of Noone free throws, but two Curtis three-pointers but the visitors in front and the lead never changed hands again. It took until the final five minutes of the first half for Union to string together multiple baskets, with a Regis layup followed by a three from junior Luke McGarrity getting the home team back within 10 at 36-26 with 4:39 left. Despite a last-second jumper from Manley, Union went into the locker rooms down by 13 at 45-32. 

Union struggled offensively in the opening half, shooting 22.2 percent (8 of 36) from the field over the opening 20 minutes, but stayed in the game by hitting 15-of-17 shots from the charity stripe. The Monks, meanwhile, connected at a 55.9 percent clip (19 of 34) in the first half.

Saint Joseph's built up its largest lead early in the second stanza at 51-35 after an Abbott layup with 16:56 remaining in the contest, but Union slowly started to creep back into the game. Back-to-back layups by sophomore Aidan McGee and senior Connor Cepiel started a 9-0 run that made it a 59-54 game with 10:13 remaining; however, every time Union got within two possessions, the Monks came up with a bucket to remain comfortably ahead.

Union finally got to within one possession in the final two minutes thanks to back-to-back layups by Cummings, the last of which made it a 78-76 game with 1:18 on the clock. Union then had an excellent defensive stand to force a 30-second violation and get the ball back, but two shots could not fall. The Dutchmen had one last chance after the front end of a one-on-one was missed, but Union's scramble up the court resulted in a last-second heave by Regis that missed the mark.

Union shot 48.4 percent (15 of 31) from the field in the second half, but still finished the game at just 34.3 percent (23 of 67). Union had an excellent effort from the free-throw line, hitting 26-of-29 attempts on the day. Saint Joseph's finished the afternoon hitting 50.8 percent (33 of 65) from the field.

In the first game of the day, Levi Spina led four Wildcats in double figures as SUNY Poly came back to defeat St. Joseph's (L.I.) by a 68-59 score. 

In addition to Spina's 18, Jesse O'Dell just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds and LJ Randle added 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Spencer Malloy led all scorers with 25 points to go with eight rebounds for the Golden Eagles.