WASHINGTON – The first five minutes of Saturday's men's basketball game demonstrated that Gallaudet University came to play here on Padden Court in the Field House against University of Valley Forge.

Gallaudet couldn't keep the same intensity throughout the entire 40-minute game as Valley Forge stormed back to defeat the Bison by 14 points, 80-66, in a United East conference game.

The Super Sophomore duo of Wyatt Carlson (Hubertus, Wis.) and Alex Ortman (Norway, Mich.) scored the game's first 20 points for the buff and blue. Gallaudet led 16-7 just five minutes into the game and later held a 20-11 and 23-14 edge halfway through the first half.

Gallaudet (2-15, 1-8 United East) missed several shots, turned the ball over and got whistled for several fouls which opened the door for Valley Forge (6-14, 2-8 United East) to make a 13-0 run in less than three minutes and take a 27-23 lead at the 5:58 mark. Ortman scored GU's next five points, and the Patriots drained two 3-pointers to take a 38-32 lead into halftime.

Carlson and Ortman tallied 11 points each in 15 and 16 minutes played, respectively, in the opening half as they scored 68.75 percent of GU's point total.

The GU duo scored the first six points and got steady contributions from first-year forward Jayden Orsi-Pedersen (Frederick, Md.) and sophomore Jory Valencia (Riverside, Calif.), who made multiple baskets midway through the second half.

Gallaudet got to within two points, 65-63, after an Ortman free throw at the 3:52 mark but never got the lead back. The Patriots had a quick 11-0 run in two minutes to put the game out of reach.

Ortman finished the game with 20 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Carlson, who was hampered by foul trouble, only played six minutes in the second half and finished with 13 points, eight boards, two blocks and one steal. Valencia netted 10 points, passed out a game-high seven assists, made three steals and two blocks in the loss. Orsi-Pedersen was the fourth Bison double figures with 10 points which were all scored in the second half with Carlson on the bench. First-year forward Keanu Ray Boren (Frederick, Md.) grabbed a career and game-high 10 rebounds and recorded seven points.

Valley Forge had three players in double digits led by Denzel Pierre's 17 points, six rebounds and two assists. Dominik McKenney-George netted 14 points and six assists off the bench and Isaiah Reece poured in 13 points. The Patriots made 14 3-pointers and received 34 points from their bench in the win.

This was the first time these two teams faced each other since the 2017-18 season when the Bison defeated the Patriots, 61-60, at home on Feb. 10, 2018.

UP NEXT
Gallaudet will hit the road this Wednesday, Feb. 4, and travel to Cairn University (15-6, 7-2 United East) in Langhorne, Pa., for a 5 p.m. conference game.