Gill's career night not enough as Gators fall to RPI, 71-67
Albany, NY–The Sage Colleges' men's basketball team hosted the Engineers of RPI on Tuesday night in Kahl Gym in a non-conference match-up. RPI used a balanced attack to collect the 71-67 victory over Sage as the Engineers snapped the Gators' four-game win streak over RPI. With the win, RPI improves to 3-1, while Sage drops to 3-2.
RPI held a 34-26 lead at the break and never relinquished the lead, despite the Gators' hitting some clutch three-pointers to tie the action at 50-50 with 8:23 left in the action. Sage pulled within one point, down 62-61 with 3:10 left to play as junior Brett Ullman (Sharon Springs, NY/Sharon Springs Central) hit a three-pointer. RPI's junior Jonathan Luster (Essex, CT/Valley Regional) came up big making his free throws down the stretch making six od six in the final 42 seconds of play.
By game's end, Luster had eight points, while rookie Tom Horvat (Cranston, RI/Providence Country Day) added finished with 17 points as he made three shots from beyond the arc. Senior Tyler Gendron (Merrimack, NH/Merrimack) added 13 points, while senior Chase Almond (South Kingstown, RI/South Kingstown) tallied 11 points with nine boards and four assists. For the game, RPI made eight three-point baskets and shot 50% in the second half from three-point range (4-8), while making 11-of-13 free throws in the second half to seal the win over Sage.
Sage's senior guard Travis Gill (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) connected for a career-high 27 points and he made 5-of-7 from three point range. Sage's senior forward and team co-captain Melvin Ford (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) continues to add to his career record as the program's all-time rebounding leader with his 544 after he hauled in 12 boards and added 11 points in the setback. He is also making his run on the program's all-time scoring list as he is currently No. 5 with his 733 points.
Junior Rob Mills (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh Free Academy) also finished with 11 points off the bench for the night as Sage suffered the team's first home loss in 15 outings after a 13-0 mark in Kahl in 2014-2015.
The Gators are back in action on Wednesday, December 2 when they travel to Mt. St. Mary College for an 8 p.m. Skyline Conference road contest. RPI is back in action on December 1 when the squad hosts Middlebury College at 7 p.m. in a non-conference matchup.
