Albany, NY –The Sage College's men's basketball team hosted the Panthers of Purchase College in a Skyline Conference contest on Thursday night. Sage knocked the Purchase Panthers, the two-time defending league champions on Thursday night 66-64. With the win, Sage improves to 12-3 overall and 6-2 in the Skyline Conference. The Gators are riding a six-game win streak and snapped the Panthers' four-game win streak as they drop to 4-11 overall and 4-4 in the Skyline Conference.
Junior Andre Robinson (Fort Pierce, FL/Fort Pierce Westwood) collected 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to lift Sage past Purchase. Robinson made five-of six free throws in the last 15 seconds of the game to preserve the win and surpassed his previous Gator high of 19 points in the process. Purchase's junior guard Jose Reyes (Bronx, NY/Shenendehowa) hit a clutch three-pointer with 17 seconds left to pull Purchase within striking distance, down 61-59 before the Gators hit several clutch free throws to collect the win.
After jumping out to an 8-0 lead, Purchase watched the Gators claw their way back to take a 31-29 lead at the break. Sage tied the game at 23-23 with 5:28 left as junior Travis Gill (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) hit a jumper and was fouled. He converted the three-point play and gave Sage a 24-23 lead, their first of the night.
At the break, Sage senior Troy Nwanna (Washington, DC/Mercerburg Academy) had a game-high 10 points off the bench after connecting for a pair of three-pointers. Gill had six points and five rebounds at the break, while senior forward Kai Deans (Miami, FL/Monsignor Donovan) had five points.
For Purchase, junior forward Taylor Foster (Greenburgh, NY/Stepanic) had nine points and junior guard Troy Singleton (Queens, NY/Queens H.S. of Teaching) had seven points with a pair of three-point baskets.
In the second half, the game was back and forth with five ties, the last coming at 5:05 (52-52) on dunk by senior Jacob Sopchak (Rhinebeck, NY/Rhinbeck). Dean broke the tie with a layup at 4:31. Sage went up by five points leading 61-56 with 1:57 as Deans and Robinson spurred the run.
Nwanna finished with 12 points, while Deans was held to nine points with a team-best 12 rebounds. Sopchak racked up four blocks in the action, elevating his active career record to 99.
Purchase's junior Nicholas Jackson (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) added 15 points with nine rebounds off the bench with a pair of blocks. Forster finished with 11 points and eight rebounds while Singleton had 10 points before fouling out of the contest. Senior center Kendall Felix (Brooklyn, NY/South Shore) added 10 rebounds to lead Purchase.
Sage returns to action on Jan. 24 travelling to Farmingdale State for a 1 p.m. Skyline Conference contest, while Purchase College hosts SUNY-Old Westbury on Jan. 24 at noon in a Skyline Conference game.