ALBANY, N.Y. –  Russell Sage College dropped tonight's Empire 8 Conference game to visiting Alfred 86-54.

Sophomore guard Noah Girard (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls), junior forward Tahirou Hamidou (Bronx, NY/Carolina Basketball Academy/Livingstone), and sophomore forward Todd Williamson (Schenectady, NY/Notre Dame Bishop Gibbons) topped the Gators with 11 points each. Williamson made 50.0 percent of his shots, while Hamidou grabbed a team-high 11 boards.

Forward Brewster Marshall, a graduate student, who was selected the E8 Player of the Week on Monday, led the Saxons (15-5/10-3 E8) , which opened the contest on a 28-9 run, with 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting, and 12 rebounds.

Looking ahead, RSC (3-16/1-11 E8) hosts Elmira on Saturday at 4:00 pm.

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.

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