Utica, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team took down Russell Sage College for the second consecutive day on Friday night by topping the Gators 78-65 at Miga Court. 
 
UC showed consistency on offense throughout both halves as they put up 40 points in the first along with 38 in the second while shooting over 42 percent from the field in both halves. Darius Hopkins (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) dominated the first as he put up 16 points before the break. He finished the game with 22 on 7-12 shooting from the field while also going 4-6 on threes. 
 
Kobe Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) added 12 points for the Pioneers while Chris Green (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) scored 11. The pair also put up double figures in Thursday night's game at Sage, making them the lone two players with double figures in both games against the Gators. 
 
Down by 15 at halftime, Sage started picking up the pace offensively which helped them close the gap to six points with a little over six minutes remaining in the game. However, the Pioneers were able to hit some timely shots of their own as the game wound down and more importantly the team converted on nearly 89 percent of its free throws in the second half to ice the game away. Overall the team was 18-20 from the charity stripe. 
 
Kimedrick Murphy (Hudson, NY/Hudson) silently packed the box score as he finished with nine points, five rebounds, four assists and a block. 
 
UC received help from the reserves as the bench contributed 33 points, including Hopkins' 22, while Sage relied heavily on its starters and saw the bench put up nine points over the duration of the game. 
 
Amani Cummings and Jalon Borders led Sage offensively as the two combined for 30 0f the teams 65 points. The Pioneers now move to 6-2 overall and 6-2 in the E8 which is good enough for third place. The two wins over Sage all but ensures UC a home playoff game in the upcoming E8 tournament as they can finish anywhere from second to fourth in the conference. 
 
The team will have a quick turn around as they travel to Elmira on Monday for a 6 p.m. tipoff.