Men's basketball drops heartbreaker to Bears in Skyline Semifinals, 80-72

Men's basketball drops heartbreaker to Bears in Skyline Semifinals, 80-72

Albany, NYThe Sage Colleges' men's basketball team hosted the Bears of St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn on Thursday night in the semifinals of the 2016 Skyline Conference men's basketball tournament. St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn made the most of their No. 6 seed and handed second seeded Sage, the defending league champions, an 80-72 loss. With the win, St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn improves to 15-12, while Sage's season ends with a 16-10 mark.

The Bears, which are making their first Skyline Conference Tournament appearance will face the No. 1 seeded Panthers of SUNY-Old Westbury at 1 p.m. on February 27 at SUNY-Old Westbury.

Sage led 41-39 at the half after trailing most of the first stanza. By game's end, senior guard Matt O'Neill (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmunds Prep) led all players with his 32 points and a double-double as he tallied 10 rebounds and hit five three-pointers. Senior forward Michael Megafu (Jamaica, NY/Nazareth Regional) had a double-double with his 13 points and 13 rebounds, while junior forward Jamir Archer (Staten Island, NY/CSI McCown) added 17 points as the Bears made 11 baskets from three-point range.

For the Gators, the senior Andre Robinson (Fort Pierce, FL/Fort Pierce Westwood) connected for a team-best 19 points with seven rebounds, and four assists. Joining Robinson in double-digits was junior forward Marcus Patterson (Bronx, NY/Mount Saint Michael Academy) as he had 12 points with a team-best 13 boards. Senior Travis Gill (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) added 11 points with five assists, while senior guard Jorrdan McCray (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) tallied 14 points.

The contest marked the final game for Sage's impressive senior class which includes Melvin Ford (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional), who missed the contest with illness. Ford wraps his stellar career as the program's all-time leading rebounder with 733 rebounds, while ranking No. 3 all-time in scoring with 976 points. He also finished third with his 61 career blocked shots in 102 games played, which is No. 2 in the program's record book.

Robinson caps his two-years with Sage having tallied 594 points with 207 assists and 99 steals. He ranks No. 8 in scoring, while standing second in assists and third in steals. McCray ranks seventh all-time in scoring having amassed 637 points in his two years with 144 assists (No. 4) with 98 steals (No. 4).  Gill combined for 144 assists which stands fourth, while his 54 steals ranks ninth with 481 points in his two seasons as a Gator.