Buzzer-beater dashes Gators unbeaten start, 95-94

November 14, 2015

Buzzer-beater dashes Gators unbeaten start, 95-94

Russell Sage College

1-1

Nazareth

2-0

Final

Russell Sage College 1-1

Nazareth 2-0

Rochester, NY–The Sage Colleges' men's basketball team wrapped up action at the Nazareth College Golden Flyer Tip-Off Tournament competing in the championship game against the host, Nazareth College on Saturday evening. Freshman Jake Burgio converted a 3-pointer as time expired to lift Nazareth 95-94 over Sage in the Championship of the Nazareth Tournament as Nazareth improves to 2-0 on the season, while Sage falls to 1-1.

Trailing 93-89, Nazareth's Josh Gillard converted a 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds to play to bring the Golden Flyers to within one point.

After immediately fouling off of the inbounds pass, Sage connected on the second of two free throws to increase its lead to 94-92 with 2.4 seconds remaining. That allowed Denzell Jackson to heave a pass to Burgio over half court - the freshman gathered the pass, took two dribbles, and fired in the game-winning shot to send Nazareth to victory. It was Burgio's first collegiate points.

The hosts led the majority of the second half, but the Gators hung around, eventually taking an 85-84 lead with 2:23 remaining.

Nazareth's Mitch Ford immediately answered on the next possession, before the Gators re-gained the lead until Burgio converted the buzzer-beater.

In the opening half, the Golden Flyers led in the beginning. Nick Nadeau helped Nazareth match its largest lead of the half after hitting a 3-pointer to make it 27-20. He had 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting in the opening stanza. The visiting Gators went on a 14-0 run over a three minute span to seize a 34-37 lead at the 7:11 mark which they would not relinquish the rest of the half.

Sage led 46-43 at the break.

Sage was paced by the play of junior forward Marcus Patterson (Bronx, NY/Mount Saint Michael Academy) as he had a team-best 17 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team for his play as he shot an impressive 50.0% (6-12). Senior co-captain Melvin Ford (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) added 20 points and had a double-double with 12 rebounds after he shot 7-11 from the floor.

The Gators also got 14 points from senior Andre Robinson (Fort Pierce, FL/Fort Pierce Westwood), while senior guards Jorrdan McCray (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) and Travis Gill (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) each added 11 points as well.

Nazareth's Ford registered his second consecutive double-double with a game-high 34 points (11-for-17) and 11 boards. Nadeau chipped in 20 points (8-for-13) and five rebounds. Tyler Stenglein scored in double figures with 14 points and tallied nine assists for the second straight game. Gillard made good on 2-for-3 from 3-point land en route to 12 points, while Jackson poured in 11.

Sage returns to action on November 17 for the 2015-2016 home opener as the Gators host SUNY-Cobleskill at 7:30 p.m. in the Kahl Gym.