Gators Win Sixth Straight E8 Contest
Russell Sage College Men’s Basketball picked up its sixth straight win on Saturday with an 85-70 victory over Saint John Fisher.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
35 | 35 | 70 |
|
|
42 | 43 | 85 |
Team Stats
SJFU
| Game Statistics | SJFU | Russell Sage College |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (25-64) | (28-70) |
| Field Goal % | 39.1% | 40.0% |
| Rebounds | 41 | 48 |
| Assists | 19 | 13 |
| Turnovers | 16 | 7 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 4 | 11 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 7 | 12 |
| Bench Pts | 30 | 26 |
ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Men's Basketball picked up its sixth straight win on Saturday with an 85-70 victory over Saint John Fisher.
The Cardinals tied the game at 42 early in the second half, before the Gators used strong defense and free throw shooting to pull away to the 15 point win.
Junior center Khalel Noteman (Brooklyn, NY/Canarsie) was a force on both ends for RSC, contributing a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds while adding a pair of blocks.
Three other Gators found themselves in double figures after the win.
Senior guard Brandon Harris (Elmsford, NY/Alexander Hamilton/Herkimer CC), who scored his 1000th collegiate point with his 35-point performance in the win over Nazareth last night, tallied 17 points. Junior guard Pape Tunkara (Mount Vernon, NY/Iona Prep/Genesee CC) added 16 in the scoring column, 10 of those coming from the charity stripe. Junior guard Adam Myers (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute/Saint Rose) scored ten on 50% shooting from the field.
Senior forward Jeremy Rosario (Albany, NY/Colonie Central/Alma) blocked five SJFU shots, while senior forward Ben Aprilante (Fort Montgomery, NY/James I. O'Neil/SUNY Adirondack) brought down eight rebounds.
"It was a great way to end our homestand against a tough St. John Fisher team," shared head coach Brian Barnes. "I was proud of our poise down the stretch and guys stepping up to make key free throws. Our rebounding and turnover margins I felt were key factors in today's game. Fisher is well coached and their guys play extremely hard. We knew this would be a very difficult game. Looking ahead we have a very tough week on the road starting Tuesday at Hartwick.
SJFU (10-7/6-2 E8) was led by Maximus Michalski, who scored 19 points and brought down eight rebounds.
After playing five consecutive home E8 contests, RSC (15-2/7-1 E8) travels to Oneonta to face Hartwick on Tuesday night.
Gator Bites: The 2025-2026 season marks the 17th for Head Coach Brian Barnes at the helm of Russell Sage College Men's Basketball…He achieved career win number 200 on November 15 at SUNY Cobleskill...RSC got off to its best five-game (5-0), ten-game (9-1), and 15-game (13-2) starts to a season in program history…The first loss was to top-ranked Trinity…The 2014-2015 edition of the Gators started their season at 6-1 and 7-3 on their way to a 23-5 overall record and capturing the Skyline Conference Tournament Championship, and accompanying NCAA Tournament berth...RSC started that historic season, and also began last year, with a 12-3 record...The Gators opened/finished the week/weekend as the top offense in the Conference at 85.7 points per-game…RSC is coming off a trip to the Quarterfinals of the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament…Seven players back from last year's squad…Senior guard Brandon Harris (Elmsford, NY/Alexander Hamilton/Herkimer CC), junior guard Deavion Springsteen (Albany, NY/Albany), and junior center Khalel Noteman (Brooklyn, NY/Canarsie) headline the returners…Harris, voted third-team All-Conference, topped the Gators with 12.9 points per-game last season…The senior converted the game-winning layup with two seconds left in the January 6 overtime victory at Utica…He began the weekend leading the Conference with 2.9 steals per-game and sixth at 16.9 points per-game…Harris scored 35 points, the second-most in a game by an RSC player, in the home win vs. Nazareth on January 23...Rob Mills' 17 netted 36 to send the Gators into the Finals of the 2017 Skyline Conference Championship Tournament...Barnes added seven newcomers to the program…Sophomore guard Kyle Dhu (Ozone Park, NY/Brooklyn Law and Tech) was tabbed the E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, November 16…He averaged 25.5 points on 60.7 percent shooting in the 2-0 week…The sophomore made 61.5 percent of his three-point attempts and totaled 11 rebounds, five steals and four assists across the pair of victories…Junior guard Pape Tunkara (Mount Vernon, NY/Iona Prep/Genesee CC) commenced the weekend second in the E8 with 2.6 steals per-game.
