Stopera's sharp shooting helps to lift Sage past MCLA, 82-59

January 3, 2013

Stopera's sharp shooting helps to lift Sage past MCLA, 82-59

MCLA

3-9

Russell Sage College

5-4

Final

MCLA 3-9

Russell Sage College 5-4

Box Score

Albany, NY-- The Sage Colleges' men's basketball team hosted the Trailblazers of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Thursday evening in the Kahl Gym in a non-conference game. The Gators posted an 82-59 win as five different players finished in double digits. Sage improves to 5-4 overall and MCLA drops to 3-9 on the season.

For the game, Sage's Mason Horne (Albany, NY/La Salle Institute) had a game-high 20 points, while junior guard Jeff Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) tied his personal-best with 17 points. A trio of Gators, senior forward Matt Farbotko (Rouses Point, NY/Northeastern Clinton), senior center Ryan Sager (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane), and sophomore guard Troy Nwanna (Washington, DC/Mercersburg Academy) all finished with 12 points apiece, while Nwanna led Sage on the boards with a double-double and a personal-best 11 rebounds.

MCLA's junior forward John Jones (Worcester, MA/South) had a double-double for the Trailblazers with his 18 points and a game-best 26 rebounds. Rookie guard Paul Maurice (Boston, MA/Snowden) added 13 points with four steals and two blocks in the loss.

For the game, Sage went to the free throw line 41 times and converted 26 of their shots for an edge in the action, while MCLA was held to just 54.5% from the line (18-33) and shot just 30.2% from the floor (19-63).

For Sage, Stopera made 13-of-16 of his free throws and picked up a pair of assists with three steals. Farbotko now has 968 career points and is poised to become the Gators' first 1,000 point scorer.

Sage returns to action on January 7 when they visit NYU-Poly for an 8 p.m. Skyline Conference game, while MCLA is back in action on January 8 hosting Salem State in a 7:30 p.m. contest.