DOVER, Del. – The Marymount University men's basketball team dropped its first Atlantic East Conference contest of the season, 79-65, to Wesley College on Wednesday night.

The Saints took an 11-6 lead in the first five minutes of play, as senior Ryan Albert knocked down a three-pointer to open the scoring. After a layup from junior Steve Etienne, senior Josh Giardina hit back-to-back threes to take an 11-6 advantage.

The Wolverines came back to take the lead, 15-13, on a 9-2 run, but senior Ibrahim Kamara scored from long range to retake a one-point edge.

Layups from sophomore Roey Stern and Albert pushed the lead to 21-17, but Wesley finished the half on a 19-5 run to take a 36-26 lead into halftime.

The Wolverines continued to hold a double-digit lead for much of the second half, getting the advantage to as many as 17 with 6:52 to play in the game.

Marymount battled back with a 13-4 run to cut the deficit down to eight, 69-61. Sophomore Xavier Reaves scored 10 points in the run to bring the Saints back. He hit three layups and two foul shots for the first-eight points in the spurt, before adding a final layup to get within eight.

However, Wesley would not give in to the comeback attempt, holding on for the win.

Reaves led the team with 18 points in the game. Albert, also, hit double-digits, with 10 points.

The Saints will be back in action on Saturday, January 11 at Cabrini University in Atlantic East play; the game is set for 3 p.m.