CALDWELL, New Jersey - The American International College men's basketball team shot well but lost 76-71 to Caldwell University on Saturday, November 24.

AIC is now 1-5 overall.

Lovre Zaja opened the game with a three from Reece Brown, and both teams made plenty of buckets from there; Jack Hall and Zaja both knocked in deep shots for the Yellow Jackets. The Cougars hit theirs as well, building to a 20-14 advantage on a De'Angelo Horn make with 9:10 left in the first.

Both teams kept finding ways to make shots fall, and late in the period AIC turned the tables with three straight makes, two of which were Hall from beyond the arc and set up by Justice Ellison. The latter gave AIC a 35-33 edge with 1:41 to play in the half. That was the last field goal of the period, but three free throws put Caldwell up one at the break.

The back-and-forth continued into the second, with Caldwell stretching the lead to 10 before AIC shrank it back; Ellison hit a layup just shy of the midpoint to bring AIC within 54-50. Threes allowed AIC to overcome the rest of the deficit, with Buka Peikrishvili, Hall, Ellison, and Hall again hitting from beyond the arc and tying the game 64-64 with 4:49 to play.

Though they tied it, AIC was never able to nab the lead, with the Cougars hitting just enough shots to keep AIC at bay and win the game 76-71.

Hall led AIC with 18 points, while Brown and Abdullah Mahamed each netting 13 and Ellison 10. Ellison also dished six assists and grabbed five steals. Zaja had nine points, a team-best six rebounds, and five assists.

AIC returns to Northeast-10 Conference play on Tuesday, November 26 at Bentley University for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.