The Saint Mary men's basketball team fell to Friends 73-70 in the KCAC opener on Wednesday night in the Ryan Sports Center. The game feature nine ties and 12 lead changes as the teams battled back and forth throughout the contest. The loss drops the Spires to 2-4 on the season.

Friends would get out to a hot start as they pulled to a 12-3 lead over the Spires. Payton Meek would give Saint Mary their first lead at 14-12 with a three pointer to finish an 11-0 run for Saint Mary wiith 11:05 left in the first half. The teams would trade buckets throughout the rest of the first half, and Saint Mary would hold a 32-30 advantage at halftime.

In the second half, the Spires pushed their lead out to five points, but Friends clawed back to regain the lead at 42-40 with 14:52 left in the game. The teams would go back and forth once again until Friends pulled out to a seven point lead with 4:59 on the clock. Demetrius Cady got the Spires back within one point with a bucket at the 1:44 mark, but Friends pulled back out to a five point lead.

The Falcons led by two points with 11 seconds left and had two shots at the free throw line. After making the first, Friends missed the second free throw giving the Spires a chance to tie. Saint Mary would miss the three point shot and time would expire giving the Falcons the 73-70 victory.

Brett Marsh led all scorers in the game with 19 points. Cady added 14 points and Teyvon Lundy scored 12 points for the Spires. Lavar McCullough had a team high eight rebounds. Teyvon Lundy had four assists as well.

The Spires shot 48% from the field and 43% from three point range. Free throws cost the Spires as they connected on just seven of 14 attempts. Friends would get to the free throw line 19 times and made 14.

Saint Mary will be back in action on Saturday at Ottawa. Game time has been moved to 7pm. Ottawa is 1-4 on the season.