Gator men deliver a come from behind win for seniors over Purchase, 61-56

Gator men deliver a come from behind win for seniors over Purchase, 61-56
Albany, NY—The Sage Colleges' men's basketball team hosted Purchase College on Tuesday night in a Skyline Conference contest in conjunction with the Gators' Senior Night ceremony. After trailing at the half, 26-22 to the Panthers and almost all of the second half, Sage came back to deliver a 61-56 win for the six seniors. With the victory, Sage improves to 15-9 overall and 11-4 in the Skyline Conference. Purchase drops to 15-9 overall and 9-6 in the league.

Sage's senior forward Marcus Patterson (Bronx, NY/Mount Saint Michael Academy) tallied 15 of his team-leading 16 points in the second half and netted another double-double on the season. He hauled in 12 rebounds with three steals in the action. With every appearance, Patterson is making his climb in the program's all-time record book.  After Tuesday's match-up, he now has 956 points and is the Gators' fourth all-time time leading scorer. He moved into the No. 2 spot as the program's all-time rebounder with 537 boards and has now played in 99 career games, also third all-time at Sage.

Junior guard Jordan Devaughn (Jacksonville, FL/Flora McDonald Academy) added 14 points, 12 in the second half. He tied the game for the first time in the second half with a three-point basket at 6:57, knotting the action at 48-48. The two teams exchanged baskets with the score tied at 50-50 before Devaughn connected for a jumper and gave the Gators a two point lead. Sage went on to lead by as many as six points, 59-53 with nine seconds left to play before Purchase's sophomore guard Deshawn Cann (Queens, NY/Thomas Edison) buried a three-pointer, cutting Sage's lead to three points, 59-56. After a serious of fouls, including a technical on the Purchase bench, the Gators would finish the action converting all six free throws in the last seconds of play to seal the win.

Cann led the Panthers with his 18 points and shot 5-of-9 from the floor with three three-pointers, while sophomore guard Michael Soffer (Agoura, CA) added 14 points.  

Sage is back in action on February 18 travelling to Maritime College for a Skyline Conference contest at 2 p.m. in the final regular-season contest of the season.