RSC Men's Basketball Upset by SJFU in the E8 Quarterfinals
ALBANY, N.Y. – Visiting Saint John Fisher shot 50.9 percent from the field and had four players score at least 15 points to upset Russell Sage College Men’s Basketball 77-72 in the Quarterfinals of the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
45 | 32 | 77 |
|
|
32 | 40 | 72 |
Team Stats
SJFU
| Game Statistics | SJFU | Russell Sage College |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (28-55) | (25-66) |
| Field Goal % | 50.9% | 37.9% |
| Rebounds | 38 | 40 |
| Assists | 11 | 7 |
| Turnovers | 15 | 13 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 18 | 14 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 10 | 16 |
| Pts in the Paint | 40 | 36 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 8 | 14 |
| Bench Pts | 34 | 7 |
ALBANY, N.Y. – Visiting Saint John Fisher shot 50.9 percent from the field and had four players score at least 15 points to upset Russell Sage College Men's Basketball 77-72 in the Quarterfinals of the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament.
The top-seeded Gators (21-5/13-3 E8), which never led, were able to trim a 16-point deficit to three with 8:31 left in the Saturday matinee. However, the Cardinals, the eight seed, did not permit RSC, the top offense in the Conference, to get any closer than a made trey the rest of the way.
Junior Pape Tunkara (Mount Vernon, NY/Iona Prep/Genesee CC), who commenced the playoffs as the Conference leader in steals per-game, scored a game-high 18 points. The guard tallied five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Senior Jeremy Rosario (Albany, NY/Colonie Central/Alma) added 17 points, 13 of which came in the second half. The forward, who scored in double figures in five of the last six games of the campaign, blocked three SJFU shots.
Senior guard Brandon Harris (Elmsford, NY/Alexander Hamilton/Herkimer CC), who entered the matinee with his name littered among the E8 statistical leaders in multiple categories, contributed 11 points, four steals, and two rebounds, while junior center Khalel Noteman (Brooklyn, NY/Canarsie), ranked near the top of the Conference leaders in field goal percentage and rebounding, registered a double-double of 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting and 10 rebounds.
SJFU (13-13/8-8 E8) bottled up the high-powered Gator offense early, getting out to a 13-2 lead 5:57 in. RSC quickly climbed back in it, using an 11-0 run across the next 3:25 to tie it at 13. The visitors continued to quell the home crowd, using a 15-4 run to soar out to a 45-32 halftime advantage.
After the Cardinals, the first eight seed to advance to Semifinals, extended their lead to 16, 52-36, with 15:22 left in regulation, a 21-8 Gator run across the next 6:51 made it a one-possession game. RSC got its deficit to three on six occasions across the final 8:31, including with eight seconds remaining, but were unable to complete the comeback.
Freshman guard Mekhi Gidney paced the victors with 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Sophomore guard Jack Janes tossed in 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while junior guard Giovanni Schillaci and sophomore forward/center Maximus Michalski each scored 15 points.
The combination of a three-ball by Janes, who had 12 points after the intermission, and Gidney jumper, sandwiched around an RSC miss on the other end, put the Cards up eight with 2:05 left. A Rosario layup got the Gator deficit back to three for the final time, as a Janes two-handed slam dunk sent SJFU off to SUNY Brockport on Wednesday for the Semifinals.
Gator Bites: Russell Sage College Men's Basketball had one of its best seasons as a program in 2025-2026...The Gators captured its first Empire 8 Conference regular season title on February 17…The Gators, which earned the top-seed in the E8 playoffs, spent much of the winter at or near the top of the Conference standings and were one of the first squads to secure a postseason berth…RSC made its fifth appearance in the E8 playoffs…The Gators, which fell in the Quarterfinals last season, qualified for three-consecutive E8 Tournaments from 2020-2022…The 2025-2026 season marked 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 concluded the regular season as the top offense and rebounding squad in the E8…RSC began the Tournament ranked 24th in the country in scoring and 13th in rebounding…The Gators did a tremendous job of pressuring opponents, starting the postseason ranked in the top-16 nationally in steals per-game, turnovers forced per-game, and turnover margin…Seven players were back from last year's squad…Harris, junior guard Deavion Springsteen (Albany, NY/Albany), and Noteman headlined 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 headed into the postseason third in the conference in steals (58), and steals per-game (2.3), and fifth in points per-game (17.7) and assists per-game (3.3)…Tunkara concluded the regular season atop the E8 with 62 steals, 2.7 steals per-game…He was ninth in scoring average at 15.7 points per-game…The duo headed into Saturday's Quarterfinal in the top-40 nationally in steals and steals per-game…Noteman started the playoffs third in the Conference in field goal percentage (56.2) and sixth in rebounding (7.3)...As the season progressed, junior guard Adam Myers (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute/Saint Rose) increased his role as a distributor, beginning the postseason second in the Conference with a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and seventh with 3.1 assists per-game…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…Harris was selected the E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, January 26…The guard averaged 26.0 points on 51.3 percent shooting across home wins vs. Nazareth (1/23) and Saint John Fisher (1/24)…He scored 35 points, the second most in a game by an RSC player, in the victory vs. Nazareth…On February 23, 2017 vs. Old Westbury, Rob Mills '17 went for 36 to help the Gators advance to the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament Finals.
