KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Pittsburg State University men's basketball team dropped an 80-73 decision to St. Cloud State University in the season opener for both squads in the Central Region Challenge at Municipal Auditorium.

Sophomore guard Max Alexander scored a team-leading 22 points to pace the Gorillas, while freshman guard Jordan Frison added 20 points, nine rebounds and three steals in his Pitt State debut. Deshaun English II finished with 18 points and six rebounds.

Pitt State and SCSU battled in a back-and-forth game for the first 20 minutes of play with the Huskies taking a 32-29 lead at the intermission. SCSU built a 15-point lead, 62-47, midway through the second half before Pitt State battled back to get as close as three points, 74-71, on 3-pointer by Frison with 1:33 to play. SCSU's Matthew Willert countered with a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left to extend the Huskies lead to six.

Redshirt junior guard R.J. Forney Jr.added eight points for Pitt State, which shot 43.1 percent from the field in the game (25-58).

SCSU got a game high 25 points from Morgan Lucas.

The Gorillas will return to action Sunday (Nov. 12) by facing the University of Sioux Falls in day three action of the Central Region Challenge.