Sager's career-high 22 points lift Sage past Maritime, 77-70
Albany, NY--- The Sage Colleges men's team hosted the Privateers of Maritime College on Thursday evening in the Kahl Center. The Skyline Conference contest saw Sage tally their third straight win as they beat Maritime 77-70. Sage improves to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the Skyline Conference, while Maritime drops to 5-6 and 3-3 in the league.
Sophomore center Ryan Sager (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) connected for a career-high 22 points, including 18 second half points. He made 10 of his 14 shots from the floor to lead the Gators and was also high rebounder with nine caroms.
Sage held a 40-35 edge at the break as junior guard Pat Lanoue (Troy, NY/Hoosic Valley Central) had 11 points and made three field goals from beyond the arch. Lanoue was held scoreless in the second half and finished with five rebounds. Sophomore forward Matt Farbotko (Rouses Point, NY/Northeastern Clinton) racked up another double-digit scoring performance as he had 10 first-half points and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
By game's end, Sage had five players in double-digit scoring as sophomore guard Jeff Stopera (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) contributed a team-high and career-high 11 assists for the Gators with three steals.
Maritime's junior guard Mike McSloy (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) had 11 first half point and had a 3-4 effort from three-point range. Joining him with a double-digit performance in the first stanza was senior forward Quamel Lyerly (Inwood, NY/Lawrence) as he had 10 points with six boards. McSloy finished with 22 points and made 6-9 from three-point range. Lyerly led the Privateers on the boards with 11 rebounds, including nine defensive boards. Senior forward Giovanni Hurley (Brooklyn, NY/Middle College High) added 15 points as well.
Sage led by as many as 13 points in the second half, 51-38 at 16:29, but Maritime fought back and pulled within two points, down 64-62 at 4:30. Sage never let go of the lead and held on for the key conference victory.
Sage returns to action on January 8 travelling to SUNY-Old Westbury for a Skyline Conference road game commencing at 4 p.m., while Maritime College is also in action on Saturday facing the College of Mt. St. Vincent at 1 p.m. on the road in a league game.
