ALBANY, N.Y. –  Russell Sage College wrapped up a stretch of three-straight Empire 8 Conference home games by falling 83-75 to Houghton this afternoon in the Kahl Campus Center.

Junior guard/forward Jackson Brown (Latham, NY/Catholic Central/Fredonia State), one of three Gators in twin figures, topped RSC with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Junior forward Tahirou Hamidou (Bronx, NY/Carolina Basketball Academy/Livingstone) added a career-high 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while guard Ryan Long (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park), a graduate student, rounded out the trio with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

The E8 matinee stayed tight throughout, before the visiting Highlanders opened up some breathing room with a 7-0 run spanning 1:28 midway through the second half.  The stretch turned a three-point contest into a double-digit Houghton advantage. RSC was unable to get closer than six from there.

The Highlanders (3-11/2-5 E8) , which stopped a seven-game slide, had four players score in double figures this afternoon.

Freshman forward Esafe Taufahema and junior forward Jajuan Preaster led the way with 23 points apiece. 

Looking ahead, RSC (3-11/1-6 E8) hits the road for their next four games.  The time away from KCC begins on Friday at 7:30 pm vs. Nazareth. 

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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