Albany, NY—Sage's men's basketball team hosted SUNY-New Paltz on Wednesday night in Kahl Gym in a non-conference contest. The Hawks came from behind to beat Sage, 77-74 and improve to 2-1, while Sage drops to 3-2.

Sage opened the game on an 11-0 run and the Hawks battled back to be within one point at the half, trailing the Gators, 30-29 at the intermission. Sage led by as many as 12 points in the second half three times (46-34, 14:04, 49-37, 13:30, and 51-39, 12:57) before the Hawks continued to chip away at the lead.  New Paltz took their first lead of the second half at 3:50, 71-69 as senior forward Tristan Wissemann (Shelter Island, NY/Shelter Island) hit a three-pointer. Sage tied the action at 71-71 as sophomore guard Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow) hit a jumper. The Hawks answered right back as senior forward Scott Reisert (Middletown, NY/Minisink Valley) hit a layup at 2:25 and gave his team a 2-point lead, 73-71. 

Both teams had free throw opportunities but Jake Passaretti (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) made a pair at 0:13 to give the Hawks a 77-74 lead. Sage had a pair of three-point shots down the stretch as sophomore forward Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Tyler Christian School) and senior guard Darius Denmark (Orlando, FL/Evans) both missed as time expired.

For the game, Sage's Phair collected another double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, He added a pair of blocks with a 9-12 shooting performance from the floor. Borders collected 18 points for the Gators.

SUNY-New Paltz got 17 points from junior forward Richard Altenord (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollows Hills West). Passaretti had 16 poinst with six assists, while sophomore forward Isaiah Bien-Aise (Westbury, NY/Westbury) finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Sage is back in action on November 23 hosting SUNY-Poly in a 3 p.m. non-conference contest in Kahl Gym. SUNY-New Paltz travels to SUNY-Maritime for a 1 p.m. game on November 23.