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Albany, N.Y. – The Sage Colleges' men's basketball team hosted the Engineers of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Tuesday night in Kahl Gym in a non-conference match-up and RPI used a balanced attack to collect the 71-67 victory. The Engineers improved to 3-1 and snapped a four-game losing streak to the Gators, who drop to 3-2.
 
RPI held a 34-26 lead at the break and never relinquished the lead, despite the Gators' hitting clutch three-pointers to tie the action at 50-50 with 8:23 left in the second half. Sage pulled within one point, down 62-61 with 3:10 left when junior Brett Ullman (Sharon Springs, NY/Sharon Springs Central) hit a three-pointer, but RPI junior Jonathan Luster (Essex, CT/Valley Regional) made his free throws down the stretch, hitting six of six in the final 42 seconds.
 
At game's end, Luster had eight points, while rookie Tom Horvat (Cranston, RI/Providence Country Day) finished with 17 points as he made three shots from beyond the arc. Senior Tyler Gendron (Merrimack, NH/Merrimack) added 13 points, while senior Chase Almond (South Kingstown, RI/South Kingstown) tallied 11 points with nine boards and four assists. RPI made eight three-point baskets and shot 50% in the second half from three-point range (4-8), while making 11-of-13 free throws in the second half to seal the win.
 
Sage's senior guard Travis Gill (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) connected for a career-high 27 points, making 5-of-7 from three point range. Sage's senior forward and team co-captain Melvin Ford (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) continues to add to his career record as the program's all-time rebounding leader after he hauled in 12 boards and now has 544. He added 11 points and is currently No. 5 in school history with 733 points.
 
Junior Rob Mills (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh Free Academy) also finished with 11 points off the bench for the night as Sage suffered the team's first home loss in 15 outings after a 13-0 mark in Kahl in 2014-15.
 
The Gators are back in action on Wednesday, December 2 when they travel to Mt. St. Mary College for an 8 p.m. Skyline Conference road contest. RPI is back in action on December 1 when the squad hosts Middlebury College at 7 p.m. in a non-conference matchup.