Albany, NY –The Sage College's men's basketball team opened the new campaign on Wednesday night, hosting the Panthers of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. The host Gators took the Battle of New Scotland Avenue, 84-39. Sage stands at 1-0 on the young season, while the Panthers drops to 2-3.

Sage led 45-22 at the break and by night's end had four players in double-digit scoring. Senior tri-captain Kai Deans (Miami, FL/Monsignor Pace) picked up right where he left off last season as the high-scorer connecting for a game-high 18 points. Deans was a perfect 14-14 from the line and hauled down 10 boards in the action.

Junior guard Jorrdan McCray (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) tallied 14 points in his start for the Gators, while shooting 5-9 from the floor. Sophomore Brett Ullman (Sharon Springs, NY/Sharon Springs Central) finished with 12 points off the bench and hit 4-of-9 from three-point range as the Gators combined for 10 three-pointers in the action.   The 12 points by Ullman surpassed his previous career high of 11 points.  

Senior center Jacob Sopchak (Rhinebeck, NY/Rhinebeck) connected for a double-double as he had 10 points with a team-best and a personal-best 11 rebounds and added two blocks. He now has 65 career blocks at Sage and is making his climb to the all-time block mark and is just 12 shy of owning the mark set by Ryan Sager (76, 2010-13).

The Gators forced 19 turnovers and held a commanding 63-32 margin on the boards.

ACHPHS's high scorer was rookie Brandon Votra with 13 points as he shot 60.0% from the floor, converting 6-of-10 shots.  Rookie Alex Johnson added 10 points with three assists, while junior Ryan McVaigh added 7 points.