Albany, N.Y. – Russell Sage College men's basketball team posted an 86-65 win over Hartwick College on Tuesday evening in Empire 8 play. The win puts the Gators at 10-8 overall and 4-5 in the league, while Hartwick drops to 0-14 overall and 0-6 in the Empire 8.
The Gators led 38-30 at the half after opening the game on a slow start. Senior guard Amani Cummings (Brooklyn, NY/Transit Tech) had 14 of his 20 points in the first half and was a perfect 4-4 from three-point range in the first stanza of play. He finished the night with a 4-6 effort from beyond the arch, while also collecting three steals along the way.
Senior forward/center Fethener Aime (Palm Coast, FL/Flagler Palm Coast) finished the night with a game and career-high 15 rebounds. He added eight points with four steals and had 10 defensive rebounds.
Senior guard Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow) finished the night with 21 points, including 13 second half points to aid in the Gators' E8 victory as he also had a double-double with ten boards and tied his career-best with seven assists. The double-double is the second of the year for the Gator senior.
Senior forward/center Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Tyler Christian School), a 2021-2022 CoSIDA Academic All-America Basketball nominee, added 10 points with seven rebounds, and a blocked shot as the Gators combined for seven blocks in the game.
Rookie guard Noah Girard (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls) had a career-best effort off the bench with 12 points and hit 5-of-9 shots from the floor to go with his one assist, block, and steal.
Hartwick's junior guard Nick Eiler (Highland Mills, NY/Saddle River Day) added 16 points with five rebounds, while rookie guard Anthony Girard (Chestertown, NY/North Warren Central) scored 10 points with three assists and a steal. Junior forward Liam Drennan (Oyster Bay, NY/Chaminade) finished with six points to go with his six rebounds, a blocked shots and a steal.
Phair is now ninth in career rebounding with 368, while Borders is 10th with 341 boards. Borders is also sixth on the Gator career list having started 64 games as a Gator, while ranking fourth in career scoring with 986 points.
Looking ahead, RSC visits nationally Nazareth, currently atop the E8 standings, on Friday night. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. on February 4.
#SageNation
Notes: Senior guard Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow), a two-time first-team All-Empire 8 Conference pick, headlines the group…He passed Melvin Ford '16 for fourth on the program's career points chart in the action as he now has 986 points….Next on the list for the senior guard, is Marcus Patterson '17 with 1,021…Senior forward/center Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Tyler Christian School), who currently ranks second in program records for career blocks with 88 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.