Albany, NY – The Sage Colleges' men's basketball team hosted the Rams of Farmingdale State College on Saturday afternoon in the Kahl Gym in a Skyline Conference match-up. The two teams both entered the action riding win streaks as Sage brought in a four-game streak and the Rams entered with a three-game streak. By day's end, Farmingdale emerged with the four-game win streak after posting a 94-89 win. The win puts the Rams at 9-4 overall and 5-1 in the Skyline, while Sage drops to 8-4 overall and 5-2 in the league.
The game was knotted at 39-39 at the break and saw the Gators come out with a strong start to the break as sophomore Melvin Ford (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) hit a layup and gave Sage a 41-39 lead before FSC tied the game for the 10th time as senior guard Jonathan Annan (Staten Island, NY/Curtis) hit a jumper at 17:51. Sage went on a run and held a 45-41 lead with 17:19 left to play before the Rams went on their run and owned a 53-48 lead, up by eight points with 14:25 left to play.
Sage continued to hang tough and clawed back to within one point, and once again down 59-58 with 10:57 left before FSC went on a another run and once again owned an 8-point lead (68-60, 8:21).
Rookie Brett Ullman (Sharon Springs, NY/Sharon Springs Central) came in the game and proceeded to hit two key three-pointers and pulled Sage within three points, down 71-68 (6:22).
FSC made the most of the teams' free throws in the late part of the half and shot 31 times, converting 20 of them for the difference down the stretch.
For the game, FSC had five players finish in double-digit scoring as Annan added 19 points and senior guard Terence Henderson (Bronx, NY/Wadleigh) added 18 points. Senior center Donald Lawes (Queens, NY/Forest Hills) had a double-double with his 12 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots, while converting 6-of-8 shots from the floor. Rookie Weldon Irvine (Queens, NY/Hewlett) connected for 14 points and hit 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the action.
Sage's junior center Kai Deans (Miami, FL/Monsignor Pace) finished with a game-high 20 points before fouling out of the game and made 7-of-13 shots from the floor. Graduate performer Jeff Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) connected for 10 points with a school-record 14 assists in the game with five steals. Ford, who left the game on a rough foul, netted 18 points with seven rebounds, while senior Ryan LaBelle (East Berne, NY/Berne-Knox-Westerlo) added 16 points with a personal-best six steals.
Sage will return to action on January 16 travelling to MCLA for a 7 p.m. road contest win the Trailblazers, while Farmingdale State College hosts SUNY-Old Westbury on January 14 in a 7 p.m. Skyline Conference contest.