Brooklyn, NY-- The Sage Colleges' men's basketball team travelled to NYU-Poly on Monday night for a Skyline Conference game. The Gators collected a 78-59 win to improve to 6-4 overall and 2-2 in the league. NYU-Poly drops to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the Skyline Conference.
For the game, Sage's Mason Horne (Albany, NY/La Salle Institute) had a team-best 17 points, while senior forward Matt Farbotko (Rouses Point, NY/Northeastern Clinton) added 16 points. Gator senior Ryan Sager (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) also finished in double-digits as he had 14 points in the win.
Sage's Farbotko has elevated his career scoring total to 984 career points, and is just 16 points away from 1,000 for his career, a feat no other Sage men's basketball player has achieved in the young program's four-year history.
After a back and forth start to the half that saw Sage leading 16-10 after a Farbotko shot, the Gators went on a 13-4 run to go up by 15 points with 7:49 remaining. But, NYU-Poly would close it to nine on back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Jethro Auguste (Brooklyn, NY) and freshmen Ed Klementowicz (Freehold, NJ).
But as quick as the lead shrunk, it grew as Sage answered with a pair of back-to-back tri-fectas by rookie guard Matt LaClair (Bethlehem, NY/Albany Academy) and junior guard Jeff Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) to push the lead back to 15 with 6:00 to play.
The teams would trade points, with the Gators going up by as many as 17, before taking a 42-27 lead in the lockers.
Auguste led the Jays with nine for the first half, while Mason Horne paced the Gators with 13.
Sages lead grew to its biggest lead of the night, 52-3, after a pair of free throws by Farbotko at the 15:00 mark. But, that was answered by sophomore Stefan Stoyanovich (Raleigh, NC) with a pair of his own. But, the lead grew to 20 with 11:30 to play on a Farbotko shot.
A quick four points by Klementowicz and sophomore Tom Fabian (Stroudsburg, PA) closed it to 16 with 8:08 to play. But after a few possessions, Sage's lead expanded to 23 after a three by Ryan LaBelle. Stoyanovich and Klementowicz each followed with scores for the Jays to make it 68-49 with 4:45 to play.
The final four moments became a foul fest which eventually led to the Jays chipping away at the 21 point lead, closing it again to 15. But a Sage three with 1:15 to go sealed the win.
The Jays were led by Auguste's 12 points and Stoyanovich's 11. Freshmen Mark Zientek (Holmdel, NJ) also added 11 points off the bench for NYU-Poly.
Sage returns to action on January 9 when they visit Farmingdale State for an 8 p.m. Skyline Conference game.
