Albany, NY – Russell Sage College's men's basketball team picked up their second straight home win as they beat Mt. St. Mary College, 68-65 on Tuesday night. With the win, the Gators move to 2-3 overall, while the Knights drop to 1-4.
MSMC held a 36-28 lead at the half before the Gators used a strong second half to overpower the Knights as they shot 81.8% from the line in the second half. RSC made 9 -of-10 free throws in the final 3:26 to hold on for the win.
Leading the was for the Gators was junior guard/forward Jackson Brown (Latham, NY/Catholic Central) as he finished with 19 points with five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Rookie center Evan Kwasniewski (Fort Edward, NY/Hudson Falls) added 14 points off the bench with six rebounds and a blocked shot. He was also 6-6 from the line and shot 50.0% from the floor.
Junior forward Tahirou Hamidou (Bronx, NY/Carolina Basketball Academy) hauled in 11 rebounds with seven points, a pair of assists, a blocked shot and a steal for RSC. Graduate performer, Ryan Long (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park), a guard, added eight points with five rebounds and was 6-6 from the line.
MSMC's sophomore forward Jayden Figueroa (New Windsor, NY/The Storm King School) had a double-double with his 20 points and 11 rebounds. Junior forward Elijah Barnett (Poughkeepsie, NY/The Storm King School) chipped in 13 points with four assists, three steals and five rebounds, while sophomore forward Connor Cyran (Garfield, NJ/Saddle River Day) added 10 points with seven rebounds for the Knights.
Looking ahead, RSC travels to MCLA for a 7 p.m. non-conference match-up on November 29.
Notes: The Gators, coming off an Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament appearance, graduated all five starters from last season…Nine players, accounting for just 21.22 percent of scoring and 16.82 percent of rebounding, are back…They joined nine newcomers to make up this year's roster…Sophomore guard Noah Girard (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls) and guard Ryan Long (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park), a graduate student, were voted co-captains...Head Coach Brian Barnes, now in his 14th season, began the campaign with a 167-153 overall record.