Men’s Basketball | 2\/18\/2026 7:07:59 AM<\/p>\n
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ALBANY, NY \u2013 Postseason-bound Russell Sage College Men’s Basketball wrapped up its regular season by defeating visiting Hartwick 89-71 in Tuesday night Empire 8 Conference action.\u00a0The win, combined with results around the E8, secured the Gators (21-4\/13-3 E8) the top seed in the upcoming E8 Conference Championship Tournament. After capturing its\u00a0first E8 regular season title, RSC, which led by as many\u00a0as 26, will host a Quarterfinal on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.<\/p>\n
The Gators, which shot 49.3 percent from the field, had five players score in double figures of the historic victory.<\/p>\n
Senior guard Brandon Harris<\/a> (Elmsford, NY\/Alexander Hamilton\/Herkimer CC), among the E8 leaders in scoring average, steals, steals per-game, assists, and assists per-game, led all players with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting\u00a0<\/p>\n Junior center Khalel Noteman<\/a> (Brooklyn, NY\/Canarsie), who began the night among the Conference leaders in field goal percentage and rebounding, contributed a double-double of 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 11 rebounds.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Junior guard Pape Tunkara<\/a> (Mount Vernon, NY\/Iona Prep\/Genesee CC),\u00a0who commenced the week tied as the Conference leader in steals per-game,\u00a0filled up the box score to the tune of 12 points, seven steals, seven rebounds, and five assists.<\/p>\n “I was incredibly proud of our togetherness tonight on both ends,” said RSC\u00a0Head Coach Brian Barnes<\/a>. “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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We’re going to need everyone to come back and also to bring a friend for Saturday’s home playoff game.\u00a0 Everyone is 0-0\u00a0 now so it’s win or your season is over.\u00a0 We’ll be ready for the challenge”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Gators used a 27-11 first half run to go into the break ahead 46-30.<\/p>\n After Hartwick (10-15\/4-12 E8) trimmed its deficit to nine, 49-40, with 17:14 left, RSC netted 14 of the next 16 points to regain breathing room.<\/p>\n Senior forward Xymier Thomas led the Hawks with 16 points.<\/p>\n Looking at the E8 Championship Tournament bracket, RSC will host St. John Fisher on Saturday afternoon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Gator Bites:\u00a0 The 2025-2026 season marks the 17th for\u00a0Barnes<\/a> at the helm of Russell Sage College Men’s Basketball\u2026He 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\u2026The first loss was to top-ranked Trinity\u2026The 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 will be making their fifth appearance in Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament\u2026RSC began the week as the top offense in the Conference at 86.3 points per-game\u2026The Gators are also the best rebounding squad in the E8, starting the week at 45.3 rebounds per-game\u2026RSC is coming off a trip to the Quarterfinals of the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament\u2026Seven players back from last year’s squad\u2026Junior guard Deavion Springsteen<\/a> (Albany, NY\/Albany), Noteman,\u00a0and\u00a0Harris headline the returners\u2026Harris, voted third-team All-Conference, topped the Gators with 12.9 points per-game last season\u2026The senior converted the game-winning layup with two seconds left in the January 6 overtime victory at Utica\u2026He began the regular season finale second in the Conference in steals and steals per-game, third in assists and assists per-game and sat fifth with 17.6 points per-game\u2026Junior guard Pape Tunkara<\/a> (Mount Vernon, NY\/Iona Prep\/Genesee CC) commenced the week atop the E8 with 2.5 steals per-game\u2026Noteman entered the night fourth in the Conference in field goal percentage and seventh in rebounding…Barnes added seven newcomers to the program\u2026Sophomore guard Kyle Dhu<\/a> (Ozone Park, NY\/Brooklyn Law and Tech) was tabbed the E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, November 16\u2026He averaged 25.5 points on 60.7 percent shooting in the 2-0 week\u2026The sophomore made 61.5 percent of his three-point attempts and totaled 11 rebounds, five steals and four assists across the pair of victories\u2026Harris was selected the E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, January 26\u2026The guard averaged 26.0 points on 51.3 percent shooting across home wins vs. Nazareth (1\/23) and Saint John Fisher (1\/24)\u2026He scored 35 points, the second most in a game by an RSC player, in the victory vs. Nazareth\u2026On February 23, 2017 vs. Old Westbury, Rob Mills ’17 went for 36 to help the Gators advance to the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament Finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Men’s Basketball | 2\/18\/2026 7:07:59 AM
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