TROY, N.Y. — The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts men's basketball team dropped their third straight game, falling to Sage College, 82-59, Thursday evening in a non-conference tilt.
The Trailblazers fall to 3-9 overall as they head into the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference opener on Tuesday night. Sage improves to 5-4 with the victory.
John Jones led MCLA with 26 rebounds and 18 points. Paul Maurice was the only other player in double figures, finishing with 13 points.
Sage ended the opening half on an 8-3 run to grab a 40-29 halftime lead. With the lead holding at 55-43, Sage scored seven straight points to grab a commmanding 62-43 lead with 11:23 to play. MCLA never recovered.
Sage placed five players in double figures, led by Mason Horne's 20 points. Jeff Stopera finished with 17 points, including 13-16 from the charity stripe. Three Gators, Matt Farbotko, Ryan Sager, and Troy Nwanna each ended the night with 12 points.
For MCLA, Jones was a one-man band. Of his 26 boards, 13 were on the offensive end. Maurice was 5-10 from the floor in collecting his 13 points.
Sage shot a strong 52 percent compared to just 30 percent for MCLA.
The Trailblazers will look to snap the slide on Tuesday night when they host Salem State in the MASCAC opener at 7:30 p.m.
