Second Half Efforts not enough as Gators fall to Knights, 79-69

January 16, 2013

Second Half Efforts not enough as Gators fall to Knights, 79-69

Mt. St. Mary College

8-6, 5-3 Skyline

Russell Sage College

7-7, 3-5 Skyline

Final

Mt. St. Mary College 8-6, 5-3 Skyline

Russell Sage College 7-7, 3-5 Skyline

Box Score

Albany, NY-- The Sage Colleges' men's basketball team hosted the Knights of Mt. St. Mary College on Wednesday night in a Skyline Conference game at the Kahl Gym. The Knights posted 79-69 victory to improve to 8-6 overall and 5-3 in the league, while Sage drops to 7-7 overall and 3-5 in the league.

The Knights jumped out to a 49-27 lead at the break as junior guard Joe Stabach (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by the Sea) paced the team with 20 of his 23 points. He connected on his first five three-point attempt to help MSMC take control of the action. He finished the night making 6-of-10 three pointers and 7-11 from the floor. Joining him in double digits was junior forward Joe Henain (Hopewell Junction, NY/John Jay) as he had 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Sage's junior Mason Horne (Albany, NY/La Salle Institute) connected for 18 points, while junior guards Jeff Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) and Ryan LaBelle (East Berne, NY/Berne-Knox-Westerlo) each finished with nine points. Junior guard Denzel Paschal (East Greenbush, NY/Catholic Central) added eight points , while Horne and freshman forward Melvin Ford (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) each hauled down seven rebounds for the Gators.

Sage held a 39-34 edge on the boards, and made a late game run as they cut a 33-point lead (63-31, 13:18) to just 10 points in the final seconds of play. Pacing the Gators in the strong second half was Horne with 10 points, while all of Paschal's points came in the second stanza of play.

The Gators will be back in action on Saturday, January 19 at SUNY-Canton for a 3 p.m. non-conference contest.