Albany, NY — The Sage Colleges' department of athletics announced the recipients of the department's annual awards. The department selected sophomore men's basketball player Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow) as the 2019-2020 Male Athlete of the Year.
Head Men's Basketball Coach Brian Barnes noted, "It's been something very special to witness Jalon's development as a student-athlete." He added, "Jalon is talented, works extremely hard, cares about his teammates and is committed to getting better. Jalon has a bright future at Sage and our coaching staff looks forward to helping him reach his full potential. We all are incredibly proud of Jalon and are excited to be able to work with him for two more seasons!"
Borders had a break-out season as a member of the men's basketball team and added numerous awards to his resume over the course of the 2019-2020 campaign. He was selected to the Empire 8 Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team and was chosen to the Empire 8 Men's Basketball All-Star First Team.
On the 2019-2020 season, Borders led the Gators in scoring with a personal-best 424 points with a 16.3 ppg average. A first team Empire 8 performer, his 424 points in a season ranks third all-time for most points in a year, while his 16.3 ppg average is seventh best. A two-time Empire 8 Player of the Week honoree this year, he shot 47.6% from the floor (165-347), while also handing out 40 assists with 41 steals. He led the team with his 31.0 minutes played per game as well.
Borders helped the Gators earn a spot in the league tournament, a Sage first. Borders becomes the first Sage men's basketball player saluted with a selection to the all-tournament team as Sage went 15-11 this year with a record of 8-6 in conference play. In the semifinal game against top seeded Nazareth College, he scored a personal-best 34 points and added a team-best 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year. The 34 points by Borders ranks second all-time in single-game performances, just two behind a 36 point showing by Robert Mills (36 vs SUNY-Old Westbury, 2/23/2017). Borders shot 13-of-22 from the floor and 7-9 from the line while adding 10 rebounds with nine defensive rebounds in the semifinals.
