Men's Basketball Team Selects 2010-2011 Award Recipients
The Sage Colleges athletic department gathered last month at Carmela’s Banquet House to bestow the program’s top awards for the 2010-2011 academic year. Sage, which now boasts 12 varsity athletic teams that compete as an NCAA Division III member and a full-member of the Skyline Athletic Conference, handed out a Gator of the Year award as the team’s Most Valuable Player Award in each sport as well as other honors at the banquet as athletic department staff, the college’s dignitaries, families and friends gathered to salute the excellence that occurred in 2010-2011 at Sage.
2010-2011 Aggie Stillman Perseverance Award: Matt Farbotko (So, Rouses Point, NY/Northeastern Clinton), Men’s Basketball
(In her nearly forty-year career at Sage, Aggie was a friend, mentor, professor, class advisor, coach, and the Gators’ biggest fan. She radiated pride and enthusiasm in everything she did, while embodying the Sage spirit of patience and perseverance against any odds. Aggie waged a personal battle with cancer for over 20 years and finally succumbing to the disease on May, 13, 2008. She is missed every day. In her honor, we will bestow the Aggie Stillman Perseverance Award to the person affiliated with Sage Athletics that best exemplifies those traits, which made Aggie so special.
Matt Farbotko excelled as a rookie with the first men’s basketball team at Sage and capped his season by earning Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year honors. His sophomore season came to a crashing halt when he suffered an injury in the opening weekend of practice to his sophomore season. Not deterred, Farbotko worked hard and was able to return to the starting lineup in the first week of January. By season’s end, he played in 17 games and finished with a 14.2 ppg average, which was second on the team and averaged 30.1 minutes a game. He surpassed the 500 career point plateau and now has 592 points and 258 rebounds in 42 games played as a Gator.
Gator of the Year: Dalton Austin-Michaud (Jr. Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane)
Arriving at Sage in January, Dalton Austin-Michaud gave the Gators a spark that put the team in position for a possible Skyline Conference Tournament bid and helped Sage draw the No. 4 seed in the 2011 ECAC Upstate Men’s Basketball Championship. Over the course of the year, he earned three Skyline Conference Honor Roll postings and finished the season as the scoring per game leader with his 17.8 ppg. He netted 232 points on the season in 13 games played with five starts. He racked up his sixth double-double against Hobart as he finished with a personal-best 26 points in a Sage uniform against the Statesmen, while adding 12 rebounds. For the season, he added 112 rebounds, good enough for an 8.6 rpg average with a 59.2 FG%.
Mr. Consistency: Derick Faragon (Sr., Rotterdam Junction, NY/Schenectady)
A newcomer to Sage this year, Derick Faragon led the team with overall points scored (368), but finished tied for second on the team in ppg average (14.2). He surpassed the total point standard established last season at 351. He also led the Gators with his 179 rebounds, good enough for a 6.9 rpg average with 30.1 minutes a game. He started 25 of 26 games played and had a 35.4 3FG% (34-96) on the season. He added six double-doubles on the season.
Coaches’ Award: Ryan Sager (So., Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane)
Sophomore Ryan Sager led the Skyline Conference and Sage with his accurate shot. He owns a 57.7 FG% (90-156), while averaging 8.7 ppg in his debut as a Gator. He also averaged 5.7 rpg and started 19 of 25 games played and was a performer the Sage coaching staff felt did whatever it took to help bring the program to the next level with his commitment and devotion to the program.
