Albany, NY –The Sage College's men's basketball team hosted the Rams of Farmingdale State College on Saturday in a Skyline Conference match-up. Sage posted the 85-59 win to improve to
6-1 overall and 2-0 in the league, while FSC drops to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the Skyline.
Sage led 37-24 at the break and was paced by the play of senior tri-captain Kai Deans (Miami, FL/Monsignor Pace) as he poured in 25 points and nine rebounds to pace the Gators. He shot a blistering 8-11 from the floor, while making 9-of-10 from the line with four blocked shots. On the week, Deans led the squad with 54 points and a red-hot 72.0% field goal percentage with 20 rebounds. He averaged 27.0 ppg and 10.0 rpg and continues to lead the team in scoring with his 18.7 ppg average for the first half of the season.
Also finishing in double-digits for the Gators were junior guard Andre Robinson (Fort Pierce, FL/Fort Pierce Westwood) and senior tri-captain Troy Nwanna (Washington, DC/Mercersburg Academy) with 10 points each.
The Gators had four players finish with nine points each as junior Jorrdan McCray (Orlando, FL/Wekiva), junior Melvin Ford (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional), sophomore Brett Ullman (Sharon Springs, NY/Sharon Springs Central) and senior center and team tri-captain Jacob Sopchak (Rhinebeck, NY/Rhinebeck) all connected for nine points. Sopchak also added five blocks and continues to add to his active career record with 83 career blocks.
FSC's junior guard Ruben Terrero (Brentwood, NY/Brentwood) added 13 points with five rebounds and seven steals, while junior forward Marques Underwood (Bronx, NY/St. Raymond's) added 12 points with a team-best seven boards. Rookie forward Eriq Williams (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream Central) connected for 10 points with six boards.
The Rams jumped out to a6-0 lead to open the action before Sage got on the scoreboard. The Rams held a 14-13 lead with 10:11 left in the first half before Deans hit a lay-up and Robinson a three-pointer to give Sage the first lead of the contest, 18-14 (8:50). The Gators went on a 7-0 run before FSC scored at 7:09, but the damage was done and Sage never trailed or saw the action tied for the rest of the contest.
Sage returns to action on January 3 travelling to SUNY-Old Westbury for a Skyline Conference contest. The Gators will put their 6-1 record on the line after starting the 2014-2015 season off with the best start in the young program's history.