ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College men's basketball team had a perfect performance from the free throw line as the Gators made all 17 free throw attempts in the game. The mark was not enough as RSC dropped a 94-63 contest to Nazareth College in Empire 8 play. Nazareth improves to 11-1 overall and 3-0 in the league, while the Gators are now 6-5 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
RSC was 17-17 from the free throw line, bettering the previous single-game effort of 14-15 against St. Joseph's (LI) on January 9, 2010.
Senior guard Amani Cummings (Brooklyn, NY/Transit Tech) led the Gators with 17 points and was 9-9 from the line. Senior forward/center Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Tyler Christian School) connected for 10 points with seven rebounds and a pair of blocks. Phair is currently No. 2 all-time in career blocks with 80 blocks, while ranking No. 9 in rebounding with 306 boards, and 18th in scoring with 449 points.
Senior forward Fethener Aime (Palm Coast, FL/Flagler Palm Coast) added eight points and eight rebounds for the contest and is now 11th in career blocks with 34. RSC's senior guard Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow) added seven points with five assists in the contest.
Nazareth, which led 42-30 at the break, finished the game having shot 58.8% from three point range (10-17). Leading the way for the Golden Flyers was senior guard Zach Stenglein (Rochester, NY/Phillips Exeter) with 25 points, including 13 in the second half after also converting 4-of-6 shots from downtown. Junior guard Logan Blankenberg (Ontario, NY/Wayne Central) finished with 18 points including nine in each half with eight boards, while graduate player Stephen Gabel (Victor, NY/Fairport) added 14 points with five assists.
Notes: The Gators have nine players back in the fold this year…Senior guard Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow), a two-time first-team All-Empire 8 Conference pick, headlines the group…He passed Jeff Stopera '14 for fifth on the program's career points tonight as he now has 875…Next on the list for the senior guard, is Melvin Ford '16 at 976…Senior forward/center Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Tyler Christian School), who ranks second in program annals with 80 career blocks, and senior forward Jason Geronimo (Orlando, FL/Colonial) are captains on the year's team… Geronimo currently ranks seventh in school records with 381 career rebounds…Head Coach Brian Barnes, now in his 13th season, added four players to the program.
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