Rochester, NY — Russell Sage College's men's basketball team travelled to St. John Fisher College on Friday night to face the No. 1 seeded Cardinals in the semifinals of the 2021 Empire 8 Tournament. Despite a hard fought battle, the Gators rally fell short as they lost to the Cardinals, 66-63. The Gators finish the season with a record of 4-6, while St. John Fisher College improves to 11-1 and will play in Sunday's Empire 8 Championship.

SJFC led 39-34 at the break and the Gators tied the game on a jumper by junior Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow) at 12:21, 45-45. The game was tied again at 48-48 and the Gators took a 63-62 lead with 2:21 left as junior forward Charles Davis (Bronx, NY/Fannie Lou Hamer) had a dunk.

SJFC's Daniel Cook gave the Cardinals a one point lead at 0:46 with a layup and Brendan Trapper hit a jumper at 0:07 to give his team a 66-63 lead. Borders had a three-point attempt in the finals seconds before junior Tyler Mitchell (Bronx, NY/All Hallows) hauled in the offensive rebound and had a last second shot fall short as time expired.

For the Gators, junior Amani Cummings (Brooklyn, NY/Transit Tech) had 18 points, while Borders netted 17 points.  Junior Fethener Aime (Palm Coast, FL/Flagler Palm Coast) had a season-best 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the contest.

Cook and Trapper both finished with 19 points for SJFC, while Cook led the team with 11 rebounds and Trapper was next with 10 rebounds.

After Friday's game, the Gators have several players making their impact on the career record book as Borders is now bounds with 237 rebounds.