Albany, NY--- The Sage College's men's basketball team hosted the Knights of Mt. St. Mary College on Tuesday evening in the Kahl Center. MSMC escaped with a 61-60 win to improve to 8-4 overall and 3-2 in the Skyline Conference, while the loss puts Sage at 5-6 overall and 1-4 in the league.
MSMC held a 32-31 lead at the break and came back from an eight-point deficit on three separate occasions and took the lead for good with 5:23 left, 56-54. Sage had an opportunity to tie the game at 16.4 (61-58) when senior guard Pat Lanoue (Troy, NY/Hoosic Valley Central) had a three-pointer at 16.4 and it bounced off the rim and the Gators collected the offensive team rebound. Sophomore forward Mason Horne (Albany, NY/La Salle Institute) went to the line to two a pair of free throws at 4.4, but failed to convert the pair and with 0.01 left, MSMC's sophomore guard Joe Stabach (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph's by the Sea) missed the first of a one and one and Sage's junior Matt Farbotko (Rouses Point, NY/Northeastern Clinton) hauled in the rebound but time expired before the Gators could get a shot off.
For the game, MSMC's senior forward Carlos Valdez (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Minisink Valley) netted 15 points with seven rebounds and a block as he shot 7-12 from the floor. Sophomore guard Donte Howell (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin Senior) and junior guard Lenny Ragaglia (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's Boys) finished with 11 points a piece. Senior forward Kevin Milella (Floral Park, NY/Kellenberg Memorial) added 10 points with six boards as well.
Sage's Horne finished with 16 points, tying his season-high from November 22 against RPI. Lanoue tallied 13 points with three assists and two steals, while junior center Ryan Sager (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) tallied 11 points with nine boards and just missed a double-double. Sager had four blocks on the night and leads Sage with his 13 blocks this season.
Sage returns to action on January 12 hosting NYU-Polytechnic in the Kahl Center in a Skyline Conference doubleheader. The women's game is at 6 p.m. and the men's game follows at 8 p.m. Mt. St. Mary travels to Mt. St. Vincent on January 12 for a 7 p.m. Skyline Conference game.
On Thursday, Sage will continue to hold its "Tees-for-Three Contest, sponsored by Recovery Sports Grill. Sage will be handing out free t-shirts for every three-point basket made by Sage's women's and men's basketball teams at home games this season.
