Ford's 20 points propels Gators past MSMC, 78-70
Newburgh, NY–The Sage Colleges' men's basketball team travelled to Mt. St. Mary College for a Skyline Conference contest on Wednesday night at Kaplan Gym. The Gators tallied a 78-70 win over the Knights to remain unbeaten in the league at 2-0, while standing at 4-2 overall. MSMC drops to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
Sage was paced by the play of senior forward and team co-captain Melvin Ford (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) as he had a team-high20 points in the contest. He surpassed the 750 career point plateau in the game after also shooting a blistering 72.7% (8-11) from the floor with nine rebounds. Ford, the program's all-time rebounding leader now has 553 rebounds, while standing with 753 points, which ranks fifth all-time.
Gator junior forward Marcus Patterson (Bronx, NY/Mount Saint Michael Academy) tallied 12 points with three rebounds before fouling out of the action. He was red-hot making 5-for-6 shots from the floor (83.3%) and helped the team as they led 34-24 at the break and despite a late run, never saw MSMC tie the game or have a lead in the second half of play.
Junior Brett Ullman (Sharon Springs, NY/Sharon Springs Central) finished with a season-high 11 points off the bench as he hit three baskets from beyond the arch and now has 78 career three-pointers which ranks No. 2 all-time in the Sage men's basketball history, tied with Ryan LaBelle (78, 2010-2014). Senior guard Andre Robinson (Fort Pierce, FL/Fort Pierce Westwood) added 10 points and was 6-6 from the line to aid in the team's success.
The Gators are back in action on Saturday, December 5 hosting Farmingdale State College in a 2 p.m. Skyline Conference contest in Kahl Gym. Prior to the start of the men's game, Sage will unveil the championship banners from the 2014-2015 men's basketball campaign. Sage went 23-5 and won both the Skyline Conference regular-season championship and the league's tournament championship, garnering an NCAA Division III Tournament appearance. On Saturday, the team will be honored for its historic season as the banners representing the most successful campaign in the team's history will be displayed to the public!
At halftime of the men's game, the 2015 class of Sage's Athletic Hall of Fame will also be introduced! Entering the Hall of Fame will be former Junior College of Albany men's basketball standout, Sam Greco, Jr. (East Greenbush, NY), a 1964 JCA graduate; Russell Sage College women's basketball star Karen (Harris) Ratigan (Latham, NY), a 1995 RSC graduate; and former Junior College of Albany men's basketball team MVP, Dwayne Barnes (Sturbridge, MA), a JCA class of 1999 graduate.
