OAKDALE, N.Y. – Felician University cut a 14-point second-half deficit to four before falling to host Dowling College, 76-71, in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Dowling Gymnasium.

Felician (2-2) received 18 points and 11 rebounds from senior center Jeyvi Miavivululu (Paterson, N.J.). Golden Falcon junior guard Tim Massado (Wilmington, Del.) (six rebounds, four assists) also netted 18 points. Senior center Evan Maxwell (East Islip, N.Y.) recorded 15 points and 12 rebounds to pace Dowling (3-3).

Felician was held scoreless for the last two minutes, 25 seconds of the first half, allowing the Golden Lions to build a 38-33 halftime lead. The Golden Falcons shot just 29 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

But the visitors scored the first six points of the second half, with two Miavivululu buckets sandwiching a Massado made jumper, to briefly move ahead, 39-38. It was Felician's first lead since the game's opening three minutes. The edge was short-lived, however, as Maxwell canned a three-point field goal to touch off a 10-0 Dowling run and a 49-39 lead for the hosts.

A three by Ryan Hickey (Smithtown, N.Y.) and a Michael Guzzardi (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) jump shot gave the Golden Lions their largest spread of the day, 63-49, with 9:28 to play. Felician was still down by nine at the 3:49 mark when baskets by Jamal Reid (Newark, N.J.) and Marko Kozul (Astoria, N.Y.) pulled it to within 71-66. Following a Dowling bucket, Massado made his fourth three-pointer of the game to make it 73-69 at the 1:41 mark.

Felician obtained a stop, but misfired on the offensive end. The Golden Falcons had to foul intentionally four times to get into the bonus, but got the break they needed when a Golden Lion missed the front end of a one-and-one situation. But Felician came up empty again on two chances to draw closer, and by the time they could foul again, only 0:26 remained. Dowling made 3 of 4 foul shots the rest of the way to seal the victory.

Kozul finished with 13 points and five rebounds in 20 bench minutes, and Reid recorded eight points, seven assists and four steals for Felician. Vincent Abbandola (Bayport, N.Y.) (6-8 FG) led Dowling with 16 points and added three assists in 16 minutes.

Felician hosts New York Institute of Technology in another non-conference tilt on Monday in Rutherford.