MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[Bengalsrule]

The playoffs begin today for my beloved Bengals. If they beat Potsdam then they live to fight tommorrow. The only game on thier minds right now is the Bears of Potsdam. There is no reason to believe that anyone wearing orange and black is thinking of anything other than how to stop duquette, Estramonte, Graf, Williams and co. At this very moment they travel west bound on thier Grand Tours bus towards Suny Potsdam.  They are focused....eager.... and they clearly understand that thier playoff future will be clearer once they leave Maxie Hall.

The BENGALS are as ready as they can be!

Go BENGALS!

[thebear]

Maxcy Hall; Jerry Welsh Gymnasium!  One of the all time great D-III coaches, 60 game win streak, 2 national championships, 3 runner ups, 9 regional titles!

A little respect please!

[magicman]

Final score.

Geneseo State 68 Oneonta State 63   

I had the Knights winning this one by a 85-75 score. Oneonta had very few points from the foul line, Geneseo had very few points from the 3 point line. That will keep the point total down. Too much Gordon Lyons (26 points, 13 rebounds) Connor Fedge (13 points 4 rebounds) and James McKennna (11 points 7 rebounds). Red Dragons were missing starter and leading scorer Zach Mager. Mikey McElroy was the leading scorer for Oneonta as he tied Lyons with 26 points. Dan Lee had 11 and Seth Thompson has 10.

Knights improve to 19-5 overall and 13-4 in the conference.  They will wrap up their regular season tomorrow as they host New Paltz. The Knights have clinched the 3rd seed and a first round home game.

Oneonta falls to 12-12 overall and  9-8 in the conference. They are now in a 3 way tie with Cortland and Oswego for the final 3 playoff spots. They will travel to Brockport to take on the Golden Eagles in a contest that could see them end up as the 4th seed, 5th seed or tied for the 6th seed and a possible play in game.   

[Bengalsrule]

Maxcy Hall; Jerry Welsh Gymnasium!  One of the all time great D-III coaches, 60 game win streak, 2 national championships, 3 runner ups, 9 regional titles!

A little respect please!

My apologies!

And might I add that the remodeled MAXCY hall looks very nice! And those NCAA championship banners, 31-2 in 1981 and 32-0 in 1986 (if memory serves me correctly), look extremely impressive!

Please thank Bearnation for his help tonight also!!

[7express]

Final score.

Geneseo State 68 Oneonta State 63   

I had the Knights winning this one by a 85-75 score. Oneonta had very few points from the foul line, Geneseo had very few points from the 3 point line. That will keep the point total down. Too much Gordon Lyons (26 points, 13 rebounds) Connor Fedge (13 points 4 rebounds) and James McKennna (11 points 7 rebounds). Red Dragons were missing starter and leading scorer Zach Mager. Mikey McElroy was the leading scorer for Oneonta as he tied Lyons with 26 points. Dan Lee had 11 and Seth Thompson has 10.

Knights improve to 19-5 overall and 13-4 in the conference.  They will wrap up their regular season tomorrow as they host New Paltz. The Knights have clinched the 3rd seed and a first round home game.

Oneonta falls to 12-12 overall and  9-8 in the conference. They are now in a 3 way tie with Cortland and Oswego for the final 3 playoff spots. They will travel to Brockport to take on the Golden Eagles in a contest that could see them end up as the 4th seed, 5th seed or tied for the 6th seed and a possible play in game.

If there's a tie for the 6th seed, do they have a play-in game for that final spot, or does the team that wins the tiebreaker claim that 6 seed??

[magicman]

Final score.

Geneseo State 68 Oneonta State 63   

I had the Knights winning this one by a 85-75 score. Oneonta had very few points from the foul line, Geneseo had very few points from the 3 point line. That will keep the point total down. Too much Gordon Lyons (26 points, 13 rebounds) Connor Fedge (13 points 4 rebounds) and James McKennna (11 points 7 rebounds). Red Dragons were missing starter and leading scorer Zach Mager. Mikey McElroy was the leading scorer for Oneonta as he tied Lyons with 26 points. Dan Lee had 11 and Seth Thompson has 10.

Knights improve to 19-5 overall and 13-4 in the conference.  They will wrap up their regular season tomorrow as they host New Paltz. The Knights have clinched the 3rd seed and a first round home game.

Oneonta falls to 12-12 overall and  9-8 in the conference. They are now in a 3 way tie with Cortland and Oswego for the final 3 playoff spots. They will travel to Brockport to take on the Golden Eagles in a contest that could see them end up as the 4th seed, 5th seed or tied for the 6th seed and a possible play in game.

If there's a tie for the 6th seed, do they have a play-in game for that final spot, or does the team that wins the tiebreaker claim that 6 seed??

Good question. I've been trying to get the answer to that question for nearly 2 weeks now. The tiebreaker rules are under lock and key and D3 fans such as us cannot have access to them as the manuals are password protected. I did manage to get my hands on a copy of the tiebreakers and I'm still confused. Whoever made the wording for the tiebreakers should have been a little more specific as it is very ambiguous.

I believe there is a play in game if 2 two teams are tied for the final playoff spot. But I wouldn't bet on it at this point. I've been told conflicting resolutions if two teams are tied for the final spot. I don't think it's going to happen but I wish it could have just to see how it gets resolved.

In order for 2 teams to tie for the final spot after tomorrow's games, my Cardinal's would have to lose to Buffalo State (and I ain't rooting for that to happen) and Oneonta or Cortland or Oswego would have to lose. There could be a three way tie at the end of the day.

I believe tiebreakers are used, to determine the seedings. the first is head to head, then the record against teams in descending order, followed by the best conference road record. If you seed all the teams 1 through 5 and there is a tie for the 6th spot between 2 teams, then a play in game would take place on Monday to determine which team gets the final playoff spot.

All we know for certain right now is that Brockport is the top seed, Plattsburgh is the #2 seed and Geneseo is the #3 seed. Brockport and Plattsburgh have a first round bye until next weekend's semifinals, which will be held in Brockport.

After the games tomorrow I'll go to the conference board and plug in the schedule.       

[NYHOOPS8]

Plattsburgh can do alot of people some favors if they can keep Buffalo St. out of the playoffs. I still believe Buffalo St. is not a team you want to see on your side of the conference tourney bracket.

[Pat Coleman]

I emailed the conference office but did not get a reply.

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State 87  Fredonia State 63.

I had Plattsburgh winning this game 87-63. What was the final score again?  87-63?  The old crystal ball had that one right on the button. I need to thank Vaughn Dweck who hit a jumper for the Cardinals with 10 seconds left in the game to give them their 86th and 87th points. I also  have to acknowledge Fredonia's Alexander Grace who missed a jumper with 2 seconds left to keep the Blue Devils at 63.


The Cardinals didn't exactly jump out to a big early lead. They did open up a 17-10 lead with 13:30 left to play but the Blue Devils kept up the pressure and finally went in front 21-19 with 8 minutes remaining in the half on a 3 pointer by Robert Lyles. After Plattsburgh missed from the field, Lyles scored again and the lead was 4. Plattsburgh went back inside to John Perez and then outside to Ezra Hodgson to regain the lead, but Fredonia's Tyrone Clark buried a 3 of his own to put the Blue Devils back in front, 26-24 with 5:30 left in the half. it would be the last time that Fredonia had the lead. Ten seconds later Eddie Correa drained a triple for the Cards and they followed that up with 2 more inside baskets by Perez on successive trips down the floor. Correa hit another 3 pointer and the Cards were up by 8 points with 3 minutes left to play. Plattsburgh maintained that advantage and the teams went into the break with the Cardinals in front by a 42-34 margin.

The Cardinals quickly stretched their lead to 13 points and expanded it to 16 when Shavar Fields and Shamoy McIntosh scored 30 seconds apart on back to back drives to the hoop. With 12:37 left in the game the Cardinals led the rest of the way almost entirely by a double digit margin. Fredonia did manage to get it back into single digits and were within 8 points at 62-54 with 9:06 remaining but Plattsburgh just turned it on once again with a 15-5 burst to build it back to a 17 point lead. They continued to extend their margin until it reached a game high of 24 points at 85-61 with 1:52 remaining. At that point the only excitement that remained was whether the magicman's  prediction of a final score of 87-63 could be in the making. Needing a total of 4 points, and with the reserves in the game for both sides I had to hope that the game didn't get extended with the foul parade. I did need 2 points from each team and for that I thank Plattsburgh's Anthony Baker for fouling Fredonia's Alexander Grace. Grace made both of his free throws to put me right on the Blue Devil's number. and when Vaughn Dweck hit his perfect jumper to give me the 87 I needed for the Plattsburgh score, a huge roar was heard in the Plattsburgh cheering section.

Eddie Correa was the leading scorer in the game as he set a new career high with 26 points. Eddie was 9x15 from the field and 8x13 from long distance. Shavar Fields had 18 points with 5 rebounds and John Perez with another double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds. John had his double-double by halftime and took it easy in the 2nd half. Point guard Chris Manning, once again, controlled so much of the outcome of this game, as he demonstrated the benefits of a pass first playmaker. Manning had a grand total of 1 point. Then there were the 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and numerous times where he kept the ball alive that eventually resulted in a Plattsburgh possession. This guy really does belong on the SUNYAC All Conference 1st Team, but lacking the big scoring numbers I wonder how many of the Conference coaches will put him there. Back up point guard Mike Mitchell also did a nice job as he had 9 points an 3 long range bombs and grabbed 3 rebounds.

Fredonia was led by Robert Lyles with 20 points and Tyrone Clark with 16 points.


       

[magicman]

I emailed the conference office but did not get a reply.

That doesn't surprise me at all.

[magicman]

All to soon it's the final day of the regular season.  Five games on tap for today with playoff implications involving 4 teams.

New Paltz State  at   Geneseo State      4:00 PM

Not much at stake here. Knights already with the 3rd seed, Hawks already to call it a season. Only pride on the line and the Knights have too much of that to suffer a letdown here on Senior Day. Point spread favors the Knights by an 18 point margin and I see a final score of 80-65 in this one.

 
   
Oswego State at  Cortland State      4:00 PM

Major implications on the line in this game. From obtaining the #4 seed and a home playoff game, to missing the playoffs altogether are all possible results of this outcome. Oddsmakers have made the Red Dragons a slim 3 point favorite.  Cortland has more to lose in the event of a loss and it's Senior Day but I think that Oswego will be up to the challenge. I'm going with the Lakers here by a 72-67  final.

   
   
Fredonia State  at    Potsdam State      4:00 PM

This one is between two teams who struggled throughout the season. Fredonia won at home, now the Bears look to do the same. Point spread favors the home team by 2. It's Senior Day in Potsdam so I'll go with the Bears. Potsdam wins and if they don't escape the cellar at least they'll have some company. 74-71 final score. 
   
Oneonta State   at   Brockport State      4:00 PM

These Red Dragons still with a lot to play for in terms of seeding for the playoffs. There's a chance they might be forced into a play in game if they lose and Buffalo State wins (I think). Brockport responded with a lopsided win last night in their first game without the services of star John Ivy, as they crushed New Paltz 86-66. Freshman guard, Aaron White, came off the bench with his best John Ivy impersonation and was simply perfect as he hit all 7 shots he took from the field. Six of those shots were from long distance and he was also 1 for 1 from the line to finish with a game high 21 points in 22 minutes.   Oddsmakers have made the Golden Eagles a 16 point favorite here and I'm not sure if they can win by that much but I do see them putting another W in the bank. Zac Mager didn't play for Oneonta last night, so it's hard to predict a final score here. If Mager plays the Golden Eagles will win by an 84-72 final. Without Mager in the game Oneonta will lose by a bigger margin, maybe something like 84-62.

   
   
Buffalo State  at    Plattsburgh State      4:00 PM

This is it for the Bengals, win or go home and even if they win they still may go home. The Cardinals on the other hand are already set in terms of playoff possibilities. They are the #2 seed and will await the winner of a first round game. The Cardinals are only hoping to improve their NCAA resume with a win today. Last night the Cardinals reached the 20 win plateau during the regular season for only the 2nd time in school history. It was also the 5th time in school history that Plattsburgh has had a 20 win season and every one of those has come under the leadership of Coach Tom Curle. Today is Senior Day at Memorial Hall and the Cardinals will not want to send their outstanding senior class home a loser, in what may be the final game they will play in front of the hometown faithful. Buffalo State is in a tough spot and with their backs to the wall I expect the Bengals to come out clawing and scratching with everything they have. Bengal's star Justin Mitchell told me yesterday, I might only have two games left in my career, so I'm leaving it all on the court...there's no holding back. Mitchell and his associates certainly have the talent to beat any team in the conference, but this year hasn't been one that's played out they way they've wanted it to. Today could change all that if they win and get some help. A playoff appearance could always lead to bigger things, but first they have to make the playoffs. The oddsmakers have installed the Cardinals as a solid 12 point favorite but I think that's a little too high. When these two teams hook up a double digit margin of victory usually doesn't happen(except when Jake Simmons was going off like there was no tomorrow) and the outcome is usually no more than a few points. Cards won the first matchup in the Queen City and I think they win this one by an 87-81 final score.       

[magicman]

Final scores from today's action. It's nice to go 5 for 5 on the final day of the regular season with my prognostications. There were some tough games to predict but my crystal ball was working just fine.


Geneseo State 79  New Paltz State 68
 
I had this one Geneseo 80 New Paltz 65.   OK which Knight player is getting called out for missing the free throw in the closing seconds to cost me a perfect score on the Geneseo end. I see that Connor Keenan and Jack Eisenberg both missed a free throw in the final 35 seconds of the game. I guess they can share the blame.

The Knights are now 20-5 overall and 14-4 in the conference. They end up in 3rd place and will host the 6th seeded Oneonta Red Dragons on Tuesday at 7:00 PM.

Geneseo got 17 points from Andy Drescher, 16 points from James McKenna along with 9 rebounds, 13 points from Matt Curry and 11 points from Thomas Decker. Decker just missed a double-double as he had 9 assists. Gordon Lyons only had 8 points but grabbed 17 rebounds to nearly double everyone else's total.

New Paltz was led by  Zach Cone-Douglas with 15 points. Kevin Roach had 13, Andrew Joseph had 12 and Nick Taldi had 11.



Oswego State 78 Cortland State 76 in overtime

Again I was fairly close with my prediction as I had Oswego winning by a 72-67 final. It looked like it was going to be 66-64, Oswego winning in regulation but Kevin McMahon gave the Red Dragons new life when he scored with just 10 seconds on the clock. In the overtime period Daniel Ross had two big 3 pointers and the second one gave the Lakers a 76-74 lead with 1:35 left to play. Cortland came down and missed a 3 pointer, got the rebound and missed inside. The Lakers got that rebound and after a timeout the Lakers Kyle Covley was fouled and made both free throws to extend the lead to 78-74, with only 27 seconds left. Cortland came down and missed another 3 point attempt, got the rebound but turned the ball over. The Lakers' Daniel Ross was fouled but he missed both attempts with 12 seconds to go. Cortland's Lamard Herron hit a layup and the Red Dragons immediately fouled Matt Crockett with 6 seconds remaining. He missed both free throws and Cortland was still alive, but the Red Dragons came up empty again on a 3 point attempt to win it. The winners get the home playoff game and the losers get to travel. And just what is the matchup for these teams? You guessed it they get a do-over only this time Oswego is the host.

The Lakers end up in 4th place with a 10-8 conference record (16-9 overall)

These Red Dragons end up tied with the other Red Dragons for the final two playoff positions. Cortland won the tiebreaker over Oneonta and ends up with the 5th seed overall. Cortland's overall record is 14-11 with a 9-9 conference log.

In today's game Daniel Ross led Oswego with 23 points. Elijah McLaurin and MattCrockett both had 13, while Rashawn Powell had 11. Both Ross and Powell had double-doubles with Ross pulling down 10 rebounds while Powell grabbed 12.

Kevin McMahon in his final regular season game went out with a bang as he scored 39 points and had 7 rebounds. Kevin was 16x21 from the field, 2x3 from downtown and 5x6 from the line.



Potsdam State 82 Fredonia State 72

I had the Bears winning by a 74-71 margin so I wasn't too far off. With the win there was a 3 team tie for the 8th, 9th and 10th places. All 3 teams had identical wins against the same teams so the tiebreaker used to give New Paltz 8th place  was the best road record. Not that 8th place is worth anything.  Fredonia and Potsdam were tied using the next tiebreaker so a coin flip was needed to determine the 9th and 10th place teams. I flipped a coin and Potsdam won so they come in 9th and the Blue Devils finish in the basement.

Rob Duquette in his final game in a Potsdam uniform went out a winner and in style as he scored a game high 24 points to finish his career. He also had a game high 9 rebounds. Colin Peterson had 16 points, and Tom Graf had 11. Point guard Joe Estramonte had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.

Tyrone Clark ended his career with a flourish as he led the Blue Devils with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Robert Lyles had 20 points, Eric Zwierlein had 16 and Alex Grace had 10.



Brockport State 86 Oneonta State 71

This was another game I almost nailed perfectly as I called this one an 84-72 Brockport win.  Whoops!! I did say if Zac Mager played and I see that he didn't. However his brother did so I'm claiming that is just as good.

Brockport jumped out to early 9 point leads on several occasions at 17-8 and 19-10 but Oneonta fought back and eventually took the lead on a Kareem Williams layup with 6:13 remaining in the period.  5 more lead changes and 3 ties would take place before Matt Lee made a layup that sent the Golden Eagles into the break up by a 41-39 margin. 

The 2nd half started much like the first one ended as Oneonta quickly scored to tie things up again. 3 ties and another lead change would follow when Brockport's Clifton Lyerly scored on a layup with 12:23 left in the game, to give the Golden Eagles a lead they wouldn't surrender. Seven points from Aaron White, 2 more layups from Lyerly and a Brandon Caruthers jumper, suddenly put the Eagles up by 11 points and they never looked back. The lead grew to 19 points before 4 Oneonta points cut the final margin to 15.

Brockport had already clinched the top seed and regular season championship going into today's game so they really were playing to better their record in case they need to win an at large NCAA bid. Win or lose the conference's automatic bid the Golden Eagles are in the NCAA tournament. They end the regular season with a 22-3 overall record and a 16-2 mark in conference play.

Oneonta needed a win here to get the 4th overall seed and a home playoff game. They fell from 4th place going into the game to the 6th seed and will now travel to Geneseo to face the #3 Knights. Not sure why Zac Mager has not been seen in the past 2 games but with him or without him these Red Dragons won't be going to Geneseo and walking off that court with a win. Oneonta ends the regular season with a 12-13 overall record and a 9-9 slate in the YAC.

Today's contest had John Ivy make an appearance in the starting lineup and my heart jumped for a second until I realized it was just a symbolic moment on Senior Day to recognize John for all he has meant to the Brockport program. I'm still saddened by the fact that this young man had to get injured at this point in his collegiate career. There will be many honors to follow at the end of the season for an outstanding final year.

The Eagles were led today by Brandon Caruthers with 21 points and 8 assists. Two freshmen, Aaron White and Clifton Lylerly both scored 12 points off the bench. Matt Lee had 9 points with 6 rebounds and Patrick Coyle led the team with 7 rebounds.

Oneonta had the game's high scorer as Mikey McElroy had 29 points and completed a double-double with 10 rebounds. Dan Lee added 11 points and 6 assists. Kareem Williams was the leading rebounder in the contest as he had 14 boards, 7 points, 4 steals and 2 blocks.



Plattsburgh State 88 Buffalo State 73.

I almost hit with my Cardinals again as I predicted an 87-81 Plattsburgh win.  I needed Mike Mitchell to go 1 for 2 from the line with 23 seconds left to play. He swished them both to my chagrin. I'll get him back before the season is over.
I'll finish a Cardinals-Bengals summary later when I get home.

Plattsburgh finishes the regular season with a 21-4 overall record and a 15-3 conference mark. They were already locked into 2nd place in the standings and will now await the outcome of the Geneseo-Oneonta game to see who they will meet in the semifinals on Friday. Actually they don't have to wait until Tuesday night to find out who they play, I'll tell them that right now. My crystal ball says that Geneseo will win the game against Oneonta by a score of 79-67. So the Cardinals will face Geneseo on Friday in Brockport in the first semifinal game if my crystal ball is correct.

Buffalo State finishes the season with a 12-13 record and 8-10 in the conference. This could very well be the best team I've ever seen that didn't make the playoffs. And that's not just my opinion either. Others have indicated that same thing to me.         

[Bengalsrule]

Well...I just got back from my journey to Plattsburgh NY to "hopefully" cheer my beloved BENGALS on to victory and a playoff berth. Alas it was not to be!   Not for lack of effort though. I'm sure the magicman will do a summary of the game a lot more justice than I, so I will leave that to him. I must say that it was good to see the young fella again. He is, IMHO, the most knowledgeable D3 hoopster that I have ever met!14 player and only 2 seniors. My hope is that those underclassmen work hard on the things that Coach Ansari will outline for them about what they need to work on for the next year.

One thing that stood out in my mind was coach Curle's comments about turning "boy" to "men" while they that are at Plattsburgh. He sounded just like coach Faj! I'm glad to see that there are other coaches who think like Coach Faj! An impressive senior ceremony to say the least!

With some good SUNYAC match-ups on tap for Tuesday I'm gonna watch things take shape and hopefully my prediction 3 months ago about the 'Yac being a 3 bid league will come true. There is great basketball played in this league. I'm glad to have seen some of it first hand.

Go BENGALS

and

Go SUNYAC!!!

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State 88   Buffalo State 73

This game matched two teams that love to play an up tempo game and as a fan it's usually a fun game to attend. Today's contest was just such an affair. The Bengals drew first blood and scored the first 3 baskets of the game and I thought to myself, we (meaning the Cardinals) could be in trouble. Rod Epps made a layup 4 seconds after the opening tip. Plattsburgh came down on their first possession and fired up a 3 point attempt that missed and the Bengals got another quick inside layup by Chris Thompson. The Cardinals came up empty again, got a turnover, missed another shot and Shavar Fields was fouled trying to make a putback. The big guy then missed both of his free throws. The Bengals Justin Mitchell then got loose inside and slammed one through the hoop to make it 6-0. All three of Buffalo State's leading scorers had scored and after nearly 3 minutes the Cardinals still had a goose egg up on the scoreboard. Eddie Correa quickly remedied that as he buried a 3 pointer on the Cardinals next field goal attempt to start a 9-0 run. The run turned into an 18-5 outburst that put the Cardinals in front by an 18-11 margin with 8:43 left in the half. Plattsburgh would never relinquish the lead for the rest of the game. The remainder of the period would see the Cardinals go up by 5 to 8 points and the Bengals would close to within 2 or 3. That scenario repeated itself several times right up until the break which found the home team in front by a 37-34 margin.

As they have done so often the Cardinals, came out of the break on fire. Stellar play from their forwards Shavar Fields and John Perez, who quickly scored 12 points between them, put Plattsburgh in front by double digits for the first time in the game, at 50-40, with only 4:13 gone by in the 2nd half. A Bengal layup was offset by another 3 pointer by Eddie Correa to increase the lead to 11. Back came the Bengals with 8 unanswered points by the double Jordans. A Rey Jordan three pointer and Jordan Glover three pointer, plus another layup by Justin Mitchell, made it 53-50 with 13 minutes to go. Again the Cardinals would bring the lead back to double digits with another 3 pointer by Correa, to make it 70-60 with 8:17 to go. The lead stayed between 8 and 11 points until Buffalo State made one last push to get within shouting distance. Down by 9 points at 74-65, Justin Mitchell made 2 nice moves inside, on consecutive possessions, to narrow the lead to 5 points. John Perez countered for the Cardinals with 5 points, on back to back layups with a free throw attached, and that was followed by yet another Plattsburgh State 3 pointer, this time by Mike Mitchell. That made it 82-71 with 2:32 left to play and for all practical purposes, put an end to any hopes that Buff State had of springing the upset. The Bengals started the foul parade but Plattsburgh went 6x6 from the line and the lead grew to the final 15 point margin.

The Cardinals weren't about to lose on Senior Day and it was a pair of Cardinal seniors who carried the day.
Shavar Fields saved his best for last, as he put up his highest point total of the year in his final regular season home game. The big guy had 26 points on 10x14 shooting from the field, and 6x12 from the line, to capture scoring honors for the game. He also had 8 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.

John Perez was close behind, as the best small forward in the conference once again put up a double-double, his ninth one of the year. Seven other times he was just a rebound or a point away from a double-double. Today John had 18 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block. He was held to 1 point in the first half but poured in 17 in the second period to lead everyone for the final 20 minutes. His season averages of 12.5 ppg and 9.2 rpg leave him just shy of averaging a double-double for the year.

Chris Manning, the senior point guard, who leads the SUNYAC in assists and steals, once again filled up the stat sheet. Chris had 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 points.

Plattsburgh's other graduating senior is Anthony Baker who got the start today and immediately paid dividends as he grabbed several key rebounds and scored Plattsburgh's 2nd basket of the game to help overcome the early 6-0 deficit. His pass to Fields to start the 2nd half was a nice feed that resulted in the 1st points of the 2nd period and helped extend the Cardinals lead. It was the only start of Anthony's 4 year career but he made it count and made a solid contribution today.

Plattsburgh also got another double figure performance from Eddie Correa who had 16 points and 4 rebounds. Eddie hit 4 more long range bombs today to give him a conference leading 70 three pointers for the season. He also leads the conference with 2.8 made 3's per game.

Mike Mitchell came off the bench and had a perfect night for Plattsburgh as he went 3x3 from the field, 2x2 from beyond the arc and 2x2 from the line to total 10 points.

The Cardinals shot 26x60  (43.3%) from the field, 6x14 (42.9%) from long distance, and 30x40 (75%) from the line. They were outrebounded 50-41 by the Bengals, but won the turnover battle as they committed 16 miscues to 22 for Buffalo State.

The Bengals were led by senior forward Justin Mitchell with 17 points and 18 rebounds. Justin is a sure bet to receive 1st team All Conference honors at the end of the season. I'm surprised that the Bengals didn't go to him more often in this game. It seemed like every time he got the ball in the paint he put it in the hoop. I would have fed him till the cows came home, as he made it look so easy with his inside moves. He also had 3 blocks and a steal. He's another player that has been a pleasure to watch over the past 5 years.
 
Point guard Brad Doyley led the Bengals in scoring with 18 points. Brad also had 6 rebounds and 3 assists. The Bengals will be happy to have this player running the offense for the next 2 years.

Legree Kirkland came off the bench to post 9 points with 4 rebounds, while Chris Thompson chipped in with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. 

The Bengals shot 31x77 (40.3%) from the field, only 2x13 from distance (15.4%) and 9x17 from the line (52.9%)

With only 2 seniors on this team the Bengals should be back in the limelight next season and contending for the title. Justin Mitchell will be hard to replace but their entire backcourt returns and that will be the point of emphasis next year in my opinion. 

Sad day for me as it may be the final time I get to see the 4 Cardinal seniors play. I'm hoping that we make the NCAA tournament, even if we don't get the automatic bid, and we get lucky like we did last year. The NCAA gave us a home game and maybe, just maybe, they see fit to do it again. I'm hoping for a 4 team pod this time, with a chance to see two tournament games. I'm fairly certain we will get a bid.  With 21 wins already, the worst we could end up is 21-5 and that usually gets you a ticket to dance.

On a positive note the Plattsburgh State Women clinched the regular season crown yesterday by defeating  Buffalo State to finish the year with a 20-5 overall record and an identical 15-3 conference record  as the Men's team. The only difference is the SUNYAC semifinals and finals for the women will be held here in Plattsburgh next weekend. The good news is that the men play in Brockport at 6:00 PM and the Plattsburgh women will take the floor here in the 'Burgh at 8:00 PM. I should be able to watch the men online and then hustle up to Memorial Hall to watch the women. At least I get to see some hoops action live even if it's not my favorite team.                             

[magicman]

Bengalsrule,

Glad to see you got home safely. Was nice to visit with you once again but your duties kept you too occupied to really allow us much time together. You need to come up in the summer and spend a few days. Thanks for the kind words, I wish I was the young fella from your post.   I'm sorry the Bengals didn't have a better season, I know it didn't meet expectations but you do have quite a bit of talent returning. (Don't  tell anyone but so do the Cards. ) I'm sure there will be more spirited battles next year.

I'll be at my store next Friday in front of my computer from 6 PM to 8 PM watching Plattsburgh State taking on Geneseo in all probability. I assume you'll be home watching the same game on your computer. Give me a call.