Houghton, NY— Senior forward Chris Kidd (Troy, NY/Beacon) scored a team high 20 points with and tied the team best with 12 rebounds to lead The Sage Colleges to a 78-64 men's basketball win in Empire 8 action Friday night at the Nielsen Center Friday evening. The Gators stand 10-13 for the season and 6-8 in the league while the Highlanders are 1-20 and 0-2 in the Empire 8.
Kidd recorded his 10th double-double of the season. Sophomore forward/center Joshua Gonzalez (Albany, NY/Canajoharie) had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, joining Kidd for the game high. It was the fifth double-double of the season for Gonzalez. Junior guard Darius Denmark (Orlando, FL/Evans) scored 17 points and was a perfect six-for-six at the line for the Gators. The Gators had a big dominance on the boards, outrebounding Houghton, 52-31 and the bench outscored the Highlander reserves, 29-10. Sage shot 41% and held the home team to 34%.
Jordan Holmes led the Highlanders with a game high 21 points, making nine of 10 at the line. Isander Ramos-Net scored 18 and Scottie Berhause added 10 for Houghton.
Houghton led by as many as nine with 9:47 left in the first half after two free throws by Berghaus (24-15). The Gators came on the second half of the period and when Kidd made a layup with just 19 seconds left in the half, Sage trailed by just one at 39-38. That was the score at the half. After a layup with 11:42 left in the second half, the Highlanders had a five-point advantage at 50-45. But the Gators went on a run again, this time outscoring the hosts, 11-0 over the next 4:39 for a 56-50 lead. Sage put it away with an 18-7 run over the final 4:42 for the triumph.
Sage plays an Empire 8 game Saturday at Alfred at 4 p.m., while Houghton is at Stevens at 4 p.m. in league play.