Sage men's basketball program among the Division III stats leaders
Albany, NY- Sage's men's basketball team owns a 7-4 record as they look to open Empire 8 play this week. Sage will be on the road on January 7 at Utica College for a 5:30 p.m. game and at Hartwick College for a 5:30 p.m. league tilt, before hosting Elmira College on January 11 at 2 p.m. in the team's Empire 8 home opener in Kahl Gym.
Riding a three-game win streak, head coach Brian Barnes' lineup continues to put up some impressive numbers. With the release of the latest NCAA Division III statistics, Sage is among the Top 100 in eight different team categories, while three different players are among the national leaders as well.
Sage ranks 16th nationally with a 14.82 offensive rebounds per game average, which is also tops in the Empire 8 thus far on the year. The Gators are 19th in total rebounds (44.36) per game, while standing 62nd with 488 total rebounds and 68th in defensive rebounds per game (29.55) and 89th in blocked shots per game (3.8). Sage is also 74th with a 40.7% field goal percentage defense and 74th in rebounding margin (+4.9).
Individual accomplishments have come for three of the Gators thus far as sophomore forward Jason Geronimo (Orlando, FL/Colonial) is ranked 24th nationally with his 3.73 offensive rebounds per game average. On the season, Geronimo has a team-best 8.6 rebounds per game average, while adding an 8.6 rebound per game average. He is ranked 105th in rebounds per game and 112th in total rebounds.
Senior guard Darius Denmark (Orlando, FL/Evans) cis ranked 147th with his 1.79 assists to turnover ratio and has a team-best 34 assists to go with his 8.5 ppg average in 11 starts. Denmark boasts 141 career assists which puts him in seventh place on the Sage men's basketball career list, just four shy of moving past Travis Gill (144, 2014-2016). He has also made an impressive 80.2% career free throw percentage, which is the Sage career record. With 72 career appearances under his belt, Denmark ranks 10th in career games played at Sage.
Sophomore center Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Tyler Christian School) is ranked in four different categories with the release of the latest NCAA Division III statistics as he is 84th in total blocks with 16. He is also 93rd with his 1.45 blocks per game average and also 117th with his 2.82 offensive rebounds per game average. He is also 196th with his two double-doubles this year. He is also the Gators' scoring leader with a 10.9 ppg average, while adding 71.1 rpg in 11 starts this season. After Saturday's game, Phair has moved into 10th all-time in career blocks at Sage with 29 in just 34 games played at Sage, good enough for a 0.9 blocks per game average.
