KEUKA PARK, N.Y. — The Keuka College Men's Basketball team defeated Russell Sage College 78-56 on Saturday to move to 3-0 in the Empire 8.

The duo of Christian Sage (Owego, N.Y. / Owego Free Academy) and Devin Milton (Opelousas, La. / Beau Chene) led the way for Keuka College (5-5, 3-0 Empire 8). Sage had a game-high 25 points with Milton right behind him with 24. Alijah Ellis (Portsmouth, Va. / Indian River / Fork Union Military Academy) recorded his first double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves.

Keuka College 78 vs. Russell Sage College 56

The Wolves got out to a fast start as Mac Creek (Tampa, Fla. / Cambridge Christian) knocked down a pair of long threes to give Keuka the 6-0 lead. The Green and Gold held the Gators off the board for 4:30 to start the game. When Sage did score, Christian Sage quickly answered with a three for the Wolves. Keuka College would make eight threes in total in the opening 20 minutes. Russell Sage was able to shrink the Keuka lead down to three with eight minutes left in the half, forcing the Wolves into a timeout. The break paid dividends as Tyler Green (Sackets Harbor, N.Y. / Sackets Harbor) hit a three Wolves to widen the lead. A 5-0 run for Sage cut the game to one, but Keuka again had the answer. Devin Milton had a personal 5-0 run to regain the advantage and Christian Sage followed with a three to push the score to 29-20. The Gators kept it close, but Keuka led 32-27 at the half.

Devin Milton scored on the opening possession for the Wolves, but Russell Sage responded with a 7-0 run to cut the game to two. Christian Sage ended the streak with a three. Keuka College would slowly start to widen the lead. Alijah Ellis capped a 7-0 run for Keuka with a baseline drive to give the Wolves a 52-40 advantage, forcing the Gators into a timeout. The Green and Gold would never trail on Saturday. The Wolves had a double-digit lead for the rest of the game. Every time Russell Sage looked poised for a rally, the Wolves got a stop and scored on their end to keep the Gators at bay. Keuka College saw the game out for the 78-56 conference victory.

KC Notes:

• The Wolves have played well against Russell Sage since joining the Empire 8. Keuka College has won five of the six regular-season meetings against the Gators
• The 10 rebounds for Alijah Ellis was a new career high. He recorded the first double-double for Keuka College in nearly a year. Jaden Keasey (Newport News, Va. / Menchville) last recorded one on January 16, 2023
• Devin Milton was one rebound off his third career double-double. The graduate student finished with 24 points and nine rebounds
• Christian Sage was extremely efficient from the three-point line. He hit a career-high six triples on just eight attempts
• As a team, the Wolves excelled from deep, making 13 threes against the Gators. Russell Sage went 2-18 from behind the three-point line

Up Next for Keuka College: The win sets up an early Empire 8 test for Keuka College as the Wolves will take their 3-0 record in conference play to St. John Fisher University to face the conference-leading Cardinals at 4-0. The matchup will happen on Tuesday, January 9 with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.