Top-Seeded Gators Host Saint John Fisher in an E8 Tournament Quarterfinal on Saturday
ALBANY, N.Y. – After capturing the Empire 8 Conference regular season championship on Tuesday night, Russell Sage College Men’s Basketball begins its E8 Championship Tournament journey on Saturday at home against Saint John Fisher.
2026 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Gators (One Seed) vs. Saint John Fisher (Eight Seed)
Saturday, February 21, 2026 | 2:00 PM | Live Stats| Live Video
#1 RSC Gators (21-4/13-3 E8): Roster| Stats
#8 Saint John Fisher (12-13/8-8 E8): Roster| Stats
Ticket Prices (Cash Only at the Door):
Adults: $10.00
Students with Valid ID: $2.00
Russell Sage College Students with Valid ID: Free
Children Under 12: Free
RSC Men's Basketball in the E8 Championship Tournament: Tuesday's combination of the Gators defeating visiting Hartwick, and SJFU taking its home "Battle of the Beaks" contest from Nazareth, had RSC Men's Basketball capturing its first Empire 8 Conference regular season title…The Gators, which will be playing in the friendly confines of the Kahl Campus Center throughout their E8 playoff run, 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, heading to the E8 Championship Tournament for the second-straight year, is making its fifth appearance in the E8 playoffs…The Gators qualified for three-consecutive E8 Tournaments from 2020-2022.
Head Coach Brian Barnes following Tuesday's win vs. Hartwick: "I was incredibly proud of our togetherness tonight on both ends. I thought we played with great energy and really shared the ball on offense. It felt like we got back to our style of basketball as we went to the offensive glass hard and the press caused some turnovers that fueled our scoring runs. Defensively, our guys did an excellent job defending the three-point line for the majority of the night and that was an important part of our scouting report. The crowd tonight was fantastic. We're going to need everyone to come back and also to bring a friend for Saturday's home playoff game. Everyone is 0-0 now so it's win or your season is over. We'll be ready for the challenge"
Gator Bites: The 2025-2026 season marks the 17th for 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 head into the postseason as the top offense and rebounding squad in the E8…RSC began the week ranked 24th in the country in scoring and 12th in rebounding…The Gators do a tremendous job of pressuring opponents, starting the week in the top-20 nationally in steals per-game, turnovers forced per-game, and turnover margin…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 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)…Junior guard Pape Tunkara (Mount Vernon, NY/Iona Prep/Genesee CC) 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 Tuesday's regular season finale vs. Hartwick in the top-50 nationally in steals and steals per-game…Noteman starts the playoffs third in the Conference in field goal percentage (56.2) and sixth in rebounding (7.3)...As the season has progressed, junior guard Adam Myers (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute/Saint Rose) has 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.
Up Next: The winner will face either SUNY Poly or SUNY Brockport in Wednesday's Semifinal round. If the Gators advance on Saturday, the contest will be played inside the Kahl Campus Center.
