Gators season comes to an end in ECAC Upstate Semifinals
Geneva, NY--- Hobart College earned the top seed in the 2011 Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate Tournament. The Statesmen hosted fourth seeded Sage on Saturday night in the semifinals and tallied 94-81 win to advance to the championship game. Hobart improves to 20-7 on the year, while Sage's season comes to an end with a 13-13 mark.
For the Gators, the 2010-2011 season marked the second varsity season as an NCAA Division III program and garnered a post-season berth to cap the year's success.
The first half saw the two teams battle back and forth with several ties and lead changes before Hobart broke a 38-38 tie at the end of the first stanza. Sage got off to a slow start slow to open the second half, but managed to keep fighting back and pulled with in eight points, 76-68 with 5:18 left to play. The Gators could not overcome the Statesmen's strength on the boards as they held a 50-39 edge.
The Gators had four players finish in double-digit scoring as junior Dalton Austin-Michaud (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) racked up a personal-best 26 points in the contest. The 26 points came as he hit 11-of-19 shots from the floor and attached his name to the high performance for points on the season for all Sage players. He was also Sage's high rebounder with 12 rebounds and finished the season with his sixth double-double and netted 232 points in 13 games in a Gator uniform.
Joining him in a double-digit scoring performance was senior forward Derick Faragon (Rotterdam Junction, NY/Schenectady) as he had 16 points, while sophomore guard Jeff Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) added 14 points, just one shy of his personal best that he achieved in opening night of second collegiate season. Stopera added four assists and finishes the season with a team-best 152 assists, giving him 255 assists on his career after averaging a personal-best 7.3 ppg in 26 starts.
Faragon finished his campaign as a Gator with a school-record 368 points in a season, while also leading Sage on the boards this year with his 179 rebounds, which tied the single-season record set last year by Matt Farbotko (Rouses Point, NY/Northeastern Clinton). Farbotko connected for 13 points in the contest, while elevating his career performance to include 592 points in his two seasons with Sage. He netted 241 points in his 17 games played this year after missing the entire first half of the season with a pre-season injury.
Hobart had four players also finish in double-digit scoring to help the team advance to Sunday's championship game where it will face the winner of tonight's semifinal contest between #3 seeded Brockport State and #2 Medaille College. Senior guard Tim Llewellyn (York, PA/West York) connected for 20 points to lead the Statesmen, while senior guard Mark Bruce (Fairport, NY/Fairport) added 16 points with five assists and two steals. Rookie forward Richie Bonney (Norwich, NY/Norwich) had a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
