Horne's 18 second-half points lift Gators past NYU-Poly
Albany, NY--- The Sage College's men's basketball team hosted the Fighting Blue Jays of NYU-Poly in a Skyline Conference match-up and came away with a 62-59 come-from-behind win. Sage improves to 6-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference. NYU-Poly drops to 0-11 overall and 0-6 in the league. The Fighting Blue Jays have now dropped 45 consecutive games, having last won on January 25, 2010 when they beat conference rival, Yeshiva.
NYU-Poly held a 30-21 lead at the break and held a lead over the Gators until Sage picked its first lead of the game at 48-46 at 7:04. The two teams exchanged baskets and were tied for the fourth time at 52-52 with 4:57 left to play before the Gators hit some important free throws as they connected on 8-of-15 free throws in the final four minutes of play.
Sophomore forward Mason Horne (Albany, NY/La Salle Institute) netted a season-best 18 points and made 11-of-14 free throws as he tallied all of his points in the second half. Junior center Ryan Sager (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) had a double-double as he had 15 points with 12 boards and a pair of blocks.
For the NYU-Poly Fighting Blue Jays, senior guard Eric Southworth (Dutch Harbor, AK/Unalaska City School) had nine points off the bench, but was held scoreless in the second half. NYU-Poly had nine first-half blocks as junior forward Brendon Henry (Brooklyn, NY) had six with four points and five first-half rebounds. Henry finished with eight points, nine rebounds and seven blocks. Senior center Alex Westphal (Port Washington, WI/Port Washington) had 11 points with six blocked shots as the visitors had an impressive 14 blocks on the night and held a 51-46 edge on the boards.
Sage returns to action on January 14 travelling to Farmingdale State for a 3 p.m. road Skyline Conference match-up.