Borders, Cummings and Phair Draw acclaim from Empire 8
Hilton, NY — Russell Sage College's men's basketball team had three players recognized with the announcement of the 2021 Empire 8 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team on Thursday. Juniors Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow), Amani Cummings (Brooklyn, NY/Transit Tech), and Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Tyler Christian School) were all named to the team. The Gators are coming off a 78-59 win over Keuka College in the Empire 8 Men's Basketball Tournament and will now face top seeded St. John Fisher College on April 9 at 6 p.m. in the Empire 8 Semifinals. Sage is 4-5 on the season heading into the semifinals.
Borders earned his second straight selection to the First Team, while Cummings was named to the Third and Phair was named to the Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year list.
Borders is the leading scorer this year with his 15.3 ppg average while adding 5.6 rpg along with 30 assists, and 16 steals in nine games played and started this spring. He was the team's high scorer five times this season and earned one Empire 8 Player of the Week citation this year. He was also the high rebounder twice this season. Borders continues to make his mark on the program as he is currently eighth in career scoring with 677 points as well as fifth with his 13.3 career point per game average. He is also 16th in career rebounding with 235 boards as well as 13th with his 89 career assists and ninth with 79 career steals.
Cummings is the team's second leading scorer this year with his 14.8 ppg in nine games played and started and has also added 2.3 rpg with 25 assists and 11 steals. He is shooting 50.0% from the floor (49-98), while averaging 31.7 minutes a game. Cummings was the team's high scorer four times this year and added a season-best 23 points against Keuka (3/21/21). He owns a 44.3% career field goal percentage which ranks 23rd on the Gator career list, while adding 46 career assists (No. 24).
Phair, who had 12 points with six rebounds, a block and two steals in the team's Empire 8 playoff win over Keuka, earned a spot on the Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year Team. One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2021 Men's Basketball Sportsman of the Year Team. The Empire 8 Conference emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
After Tuesday's game Phair is now 23rd on the Gator career scoring list with 367 points as well as 13th with 261 rebounds. Phair is also now third with is 64 career blocks. On his 2021 season, Phair has started all nine games with 9.1 ppg and 6.0 rpg while leading the team with his 16 blocked shots. He is also leading the team with his 55.1% field goal percentage (38-69). He owns a 50.2% career field goal percentage and is 12th on the career list having made 156 of 311 shots.
