Elmira, N.Y. – Russell Sage College men's basketball team picked up a 72-59 road win over Elmira College on Friday night in Empire 8 action. The victory puts RSC at 13-12 overall and 7-8 in the Empire 8, while the Soaring Eagles drop to 5-19 overall and 3-12 in the league. The Gators held a 36-25 lead at the half and led by as many as 18 points (47-29, 15:02) in the adding their second straight road victory.
With their win on Friday night, the Gators have secured the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Empire 8 tournament and will travel to Alfred University, the No.4 seed, for the first round of the league championship on February 22. Game time to be determined. The Gators have now secured post-season appearances ten times, including four consecutive spots in the Empire 8 Tournament.
Senior forward/center Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Tyler Christian School), a 2021-2022 CoSIDA Academic All-America Basketball nominee, added his second double-double of the year after he tallied 14 points with 13 rebounds and a blocked shot. He shot 6-of-11 from the floor in the contest.
Senior guard Amani Cummings (Brooklyn, NY/Transit Tech) racked up a team-best 19 points for his 14th double-digit scoring effort on the year. Senior guard Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow) finished the night with 13 points to go with his 11 rebounds and five assists.
Rookie guard Noah Girard (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls) added 13 points as well for the Gators as they also combined to shoot 89.5% from the line, converting 17-of-19 free throws in the contest.
Phair is now eighth in career rebounding with 420, while Borders is ninth with 378 boards. Borders is also fifth on the Gator career list having started 70 games as a Gator, Phair checks in 10th with his 81 career appearances.
Elmira's Bryan Adams finished with 20 points and was 10-11 from the line, while Rashaad Nurse tallied 14 points with seven rebounds and three blocks.
Looking ahead, RSC has its regular season finale at Keuka tomorrow at 4:00 pm.
Notes: Senior guard Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow) became just the fourth Gator to score his 1,000th career point on Feb. 6 at St. John Fisher…The two-time first-team All-Conference pick sits third in program records with 1,065 career points…Senior forward/center Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Tyler Christian School), who currently ranks second in program records for career blocks with 107, and senior forward Jason Geronimo (Orlando, FL/Colonial) are captains on the year's team…The pair both rank in the top eight on the program's career rebounding chart.
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