Purchase, NY-- The Sage Colleges' men's basketball team travelled to Purchase College for the team's final contest of the 2012 half of the season. The host Panthers posted a 77-74 come from behind win to improve to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Skyline Conference. Sage drops to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the league.
Sage held a 43-26 lead at the break, but the Panthers gradually cut the lead from a 16-point Sage lead at 15:00. There were seven ties in the action, the last coming at 0:29 with the two squad's knotted at 74-74 as junior Jeff Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) hit a jumper for the Gators.
Purchase was able to break the tie when rookie Melvin Ford (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) fouled Craig Davis at 0:11 and he made the second of two free throws to give Purchase a 75-74 lead. With three seconds left in regulation, Sage fouled David Haughton and he made both free throws to give Purchase a 77-74 lead. Sage's Troy Nwanna (Washington, DC/Mercersburg Academy) had a three-point shot at the buzzer that was off the mark to prevent the Gators from sending the game to overtime.
For the game, Sage's Mason Horne (Albany, NY/La Salle Institute) had 21 points with five rebounds before fouling out of the game in the final seconds of play. Stopera added 12 points with five assists and three steals. Rounding out the team's scorers in double-digits was senior forward Matt Farbotko (Rouses Point, NY/Northeastern Clinton) as she netted 12 points. He now has 956 career points and is poised to become the Gators' first 1,000 point scorer.
Nwanna added seven points, while freshman center Brandon Hornedo (Central Islip, NY/Central Islip) added eight points and team-best eight rebounds.
Purchase's Craig Davis added 18 points off the bench, while Joel Neri added 15 points after making 6-of-8 from the floor.
