ALBANY, N.Y. – Visiting Medaille outscored Russell Sage College 52-27 after the intermission to come away with a 78-65 Empire 8 Conference victory tonight in the Kahl Campus Center.
RSC started the second half of the Friday night Empire 8 Conference doubleheader strong, getting out to a 23-9 lead with 13:46 left in the first period. The Gators (3-10/1-5 E8), which shot 45.5 percent from the field in the opening half, including 37.5 percent from beyond the arc, held Medaille to 1-of-10 shooting from three-point range in the first half to go into the locker room up 38-26.
The Mavericks (4-8/2-3 E8), which shot 60.0 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, quickly erased the double-digit halftime deficit, opening the stanza on a 27-6 run to take control.
RSC was able to trim the deficit to nine with 4:54 remaining, but Medaille answered with the next four points to stem the Gator momentum.
Sophomore guard Noah Girard (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls) topped RSC with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and five assists. Junior guard/forward Jackson Brown (Latham, NY/Catholic Central/Fredonia State) added 16 points, while junior forward Tahirou Hamidou (Bronx, NY/Carolina Basketball Academy/Livingstone) contributed 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds.
Medaille featured a balanced attack tonight, with six players scoring at least nine points. Sophomore forward Oscar Wolter, one of four Mavericks in twin figures, registered a double-double of 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 10 rebounds to pace the victors.
RSC wraps up a stretch of three-straight E8 home games tomorrow at 4:00 pm vs. Houghton.
Notes: The Gators, coming off an E8 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, returned…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.
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