St. Joseph's Falls in Skyline Conference Men's Basketball Championship Game to Sage

Albany, N.Y. - The top-seeded Sage Gators (23-4) upended the #2 St. Joseph's Golden Eagles (17-10), 84-70, in the championship round of the Skyline Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.   Sage earns the 2014-15 Skyline crown and the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Senior guard and All-Skyline first teamer, Sean McCarthy (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park), led St. Joseph's with a game-high 20 points on 7-for-12 from the field, along with four rebounds.  All-Skyline second team member and sophomore guard, Andy Laurent (Amityville, N.Y./Amityville), was right behind him with 19 points on 8-for-20 shooting and four rebounds.  Sophomore forward and fellow second teamer, Fernando Vazquez (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon), posted 15 points on 6-for-13 from the field with four boards and three assists.

Andre Robinson led four Sage Gators in double-figures with 17 points (12 from free throws) and a game-high 12 rebounds.  Jordan McCray (15), Marcus Patterson (15) and Melvin Ford (14) rounded out their balanced scoring attack.

In their first trip back to the Skyline final since the since the 2010-11 season, the Golden Eagles performed admirably until the game got away from them in the final stretch.  Sage led the entire contest, but SJC kept nipping at their heels the whole time, coming as close as two points early in the second half. 

Sage opened the game jumping out with all the home court momentum to a 12-2 lead.   SJC cut the deficit to four points via a Vazquez three-pointer with the margin 21-17 at 9:21. The home team would leap far ahead again with a Ford bucket to stretch it back to 12, 31-19, at 5:57. 

However, the Golden Eagles fortunes turned at that point, as Sage was unable to score a basket in the last 5:25 of the first period.  Conversions by freshman forward Isaiah Moore (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon), Laurent, and senior gaurd Nick Gallina (Lake Grove, N.Y./Sachem North), would tilt the scoreboard back to 33-27 going into the intermission.

Sage opened the second half with a statement dunk by McCray before the Golden Eagles would crawl back to within two points as Laurent hit a lay-up and Vazquez drained a three to put the score at 37-35 with 16:33 remaining.  The home team rallied back once more by going on a 7-0 run starting at 15:33.

McCarthy willed the Eagles back to three points down with his own three-ball making it 48-45 with 12:33 left.  But, from that point on, Sage could not be held back as the lead grew into double-digits for most of the rest of the affair.

The Gators dominated the boards 45-30 and were outstanding from the field shooting 50% on 24-for-48, compared to SJC's 38.9% (13-for-38).  Sage also showed their mettle at the line, converting 32 of 43 free throws. 

The Golden Eagles will graduate five seniors this season but have a great nucleus of young players to build around for next year.  In head coach Kevin Spann's first season at the helm, the squad went an impressive 13-5 in Skyline play and captured their highest Skyline Tournament seed since the 2011-12 campaign.