Eagles Late Second Half Lead Swallowed by Gators

Albany, N.Y. – The Golden Eagles (5-15, 4-9 SKY) led by as many as six in the second half but they couldn't stop the Sage Gators' (13-8, 9-5 SKY) furious rally as they were defeated 69-59 on Saturday afternoon.  

The last time these two teams tipped off, SJC was soundly defeated in their own building by 22 points. The Gators distanced themselves in the first half of that matchup opening up a 13-point lead but the Golden Eagles were out for revenge on Saturday and this time, the first half could not separate the teams. The Eagles managed to tie the game eight times in the half but they only held a one-point lead twice. Both leads were quickly snatched by Sage, whose lead was never more than five in the half. Andy Laurent's (Amityville, N.Y./Amityville) layup before the buzzer put the Eagles down just one going into the locker room. The Eagles leaned on Darryl Charles (Middletown, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) in the first half who finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

After Sage opened the second half scoring, Cody Lohsen (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach) hit a three to tie the game at 34.  The Eagles defense was a brick wall to start the half, blocking shots and causing turnovers and the energy level carried over on the offensive end with three straight baskets by Laurent, Charles and Lohsen as part of the 9-0 Eagles run that gave them their largest lead of the day but the Gators stayed hungry. Troy Nwanna checked back into the game after a short stint on the bench and immediately made an impact with back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 44 with just over 11 minutes remaining but Sean McCarthy (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) and Charles answered back with three's of their own giving the Eagles a five-point lead. Sage trimmed the lead down to three with just five minutes left and Nwanna hit another big three-pointer to tie the game at 55. After the Gators had regained the lead, the Eagles tied it up once again at the 3:57 mark but the Golden Eagles wouldn't score again until there was only 47 seconds left on the clock as the Gators finished the game on a 12-2 run.

Charles led the Eagles with 23 points and 12 boards, and McCarthy finished with 13 points and six rebounds but Kai Deans stole the show with 25 points, 15 rebounds, and three steals for the Gators and Eric Samuels clogged up paint with six blocked shots.

SJC takes on Polytechnic on the road this Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. in another Skyline game.