Brown's Dunk

ALFRED, NY – Junior forward Sage Brown (Cortland, NY/Cortland) set a new career-high in points as he dropped 27 as the Alfred University men's basketball team defeated visiting Elmira College 104-77 on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at the Galanis Arena.
 
The Saxons (14-4, 7-2 Empire 8) had four other players score in double-digits including 19 points from senior guard Nick Schmidt (Olean, NY/Olean) and 16 points from senior forward Dalton Cousin (Sherrill, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) as he came off the bench. Brown also led the team with 13 rebounds while Cousin grabbed seven (four offense, three defense). Junior guard Scotty Stopera (Scoria, NY/Scotia-Glenville) had a key role in orchestrating the offense as he finished with nine assists.
  Alfred opened up the game hot as Schmidt and Stopera both hit three-pointer on the team's first two possessions to make it 6-2 with just over two minutes into the game. The Soaring Eagles started to find some offense of their own as Henry Cuffee drained his three-point attempt to make it 8-7 in favor of Alfred. The Saxons started to gain separation, scoring seven unanswered points including an and-one from Brown.
 
The Saxons gained a nine point advantage off a three-pointer from Schmidt with just over 10 minutes to play in the first half to make it 33-24. Elmira would cut the deficit to one point as Alex Ischiropoulos converted his shot from beyond the three-point arc to make it 33-32. Alfred quickly took back the moment as they went on a 20-4 run that was fueled by a one-hammed slam dunk from Brown to put an exclamation point on a stellar first half of play.
 
The Saxons took a 60-43 lead into halftime.
 

"We had an unbelievable atmosphere tonight," said Head Coach Russell Phillips. "The crowd was incredible and we certainly fed off of their energy.  We started strong on offense tonight, especially Sage Brown and Nick Schmidt. Nick hit shots early which set the tone. Scotty Stopera handled Elmira's pressure well with another big assist night and controlled the flow of the game for us.  It was a great way to honor our 4 seniors, Josh Taylor, Dalton Cousin, Tristin Hook and Nick Schmidt.
 
The Saxons dominated in almost every facet of the game including going 39-for-64 (60.9%) from the field and went 11-for-23 (47.8%) from beyond the arc. Alfred held the advantage in points of turnovers, 22-10. Alfred had complete control of the paint, outscoring Elmira, 58-24.
 
The Soaring Eagles were led Cuffee with 23 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Alfred University men's basketball team recognized Cousin, forward Tristin Hook (Red Hook, NJ/Middletown North), Schmidt, forward Joshua Taylor (Poughkeepsie, NY/Poughkeepsie) and student assistant coach Darien Orange for their contributions to the team on Senior Day.
 
The Saxons are next in action on Tuesday, January 30, as they travel to Houghton College at 6 PM.