Men's Basketball Drop Home Opener to Russell Sage Gators

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Basketball played their first home game of the 2024-25 season this evening when they welcomed the Russell Sage College Gators to the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium for a non-conference matchup. Jojo Garcia led the Trailblazers against Sage tonight, tying his career-high with a game-high 21 points, collecting seven rebounds, and going 4/4 from the free-throw line. However, MCLA still fell short in competition with a final score of 86-68.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Wednesday, November 13, 2024
• Score: Sage 86, MCLA 68
• Records: Russell Sage College Gators 2-0 (Empire 8 0-0) | MCLA Trailblazers 0-2 (MASCAC 0-0)

HOW IT WENT DOWN

• Graduate Student forward Jackson Brown (Latham, NY) opened up the game with a layup, but Russell Sage's senior guard Noah Girard returned it in just a few short seconds.
• The Gators came out strong, creating a 12-point lead by the 12th minute of the game.
• Junior guard Colby Burleson (Pittsboro, NC) ended Sage's run, hitting a layup to cut the lead back to 10 points.
• MCLA continued to fight hard, and in the 16th minute, Brown sent a pass to senior guard JoJo Garcia (Henderson, NV) that set him up for a deep three. Closing out the first half, the Trailblazers went into halftime with an eight-point deficit.
• The Gators once again came out of the locker room strong, giving themselves a cushion of 20 points eight minutes in, and coasted to an 86-68 final score.
• Sage's junior guard Trevor Green led the team with 15 points, shooting 50% from the three-point line and 3-4 from the free-throw line.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Field Goals / %: Sage: 33-66 / 50.0%, MCLA: 20-59 / 34%
• 3 Points / %: Sage: 3-12 / 25.0%, MCLA  6-29 / 20.7%
• Free Throw / %: Sage: 17-25 / 68.0%, MCLA 22-30 / 73.3%
• Rebounds: Sage 45, MCLA 35
• Points off Turnovers: Sage 12, MCLA 9
• Second Chance Points: Sage 13, MCLA 7
• Points in the Paint: Sage 50, MCLA 26
• Bench Points: Sage 34, MCLA 16

UP NEXT:

On Day, MCLA will be back in action when they travel to Thomas College for the Charlie Ryan Classic and a matchup with the Maine Presque Isle Owls at the Larry Mahaney Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.

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