MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

2 big ones on tap tonight. The winners, in all likely hood, go to the dance...and maybe a loser too.

B Port vs Oswego. I watched the last match up between the 2 online  and surprisingly enough the Lakers handled the golden eagles before and after Ivy went down (8 mins left in the 2nd half). They were up by 12 at halftime. The problem for the Golden eagles is that they couldn't harass Ross into turning over the ball. he was the General on the court and no matter what Carruthers, Ivy, White or bell did , he couldn't be deterred (spell-check anyone?).

This time around, Brockport is going into the game knowing that they don't have the "poison 1" (and the clear favorite for player of the year!!). Who will step up?. Will it be freshman Clifton Lyerly, the slasher? Or freshman Aaron White (Canisius high, my Alma mater) doing what he did last game (21 points)? What about Bobby "the bomber" Bell, who may be playing in his last game as a Golden eagle? Can senior Patrick Coyle get a triple double or can Matt Lee... hit the 3? (that rhymes). One thing is for sure. Brockport is deep. And they should win by at least 3!

The Cards vs. the Blue knights....ooowwwweee. This 1 is gonna be special! Big question is whether or not Shamoy has recovered from his injury vs the BENGALS (I hate thinking about that game)? If so and everyone else is ready to go then I see the Cards as a 5 point favorite. With manning, Correa (that kid is dangerous), Fields, Perez and McIntosh, Plattsburgh looks like not only the winner tonight but league champs tomorrow. undoubtedly Gordon Lyons (Canisuis High, my Alma mater) is gonna be a handful for Fields and Perez!Plus Fedge and Decker could cause problems from beyond the arc, but all things being equal I like the Cards in this 1 to win by 5. I believe that both teams get in the dance regardless of what happens although Geneseo probably could use the win more than Plattsburgh!

The 'Yac is back..and ready to stack...the NCAA tourney....with the SUNYAC top 3! (yes magicman...that does rhyme!!)

It would appear that Longfellow is alive and well and living in Buffalo. Who knew?

[magicman]

Good luck to your Cardinals tonight Magic!

Thanks 7 and good luck to your Colonials as well. Both teams with tough matchups, need all the good luck they can muster tonight and maybe a little "magic" as well. I'll try and send some their way. I'll be watching parts of a lot of games tonight and the Western game. starting at 5:30 gives me a half hour before the Cardinals tip off to see who grabs the early lead. Eastern, with Salzillo back, will be a handful.

[magicman]

Geneseo leads Plattsburgh by a 32-31 score at the half.

Back and forth game all throughout the period with the largest lead 16-9 by Plattsburgh with 13:39 to go on a layup by John Perez. Knights would come back with a 9-0 run and take the lead 18-16 on a 3 pointer by Thomas Decker with 11 minutes to go. A Gordon Lyons layup made it 20-16 but back to back buckets by the Cardinals' Chris Manning tied it up once again. Down 23-20 with 7 minutes to go Plattsburgh used the long ball to go ahead once again as Eddie Correa, Ezra Hodgson and Correa  put the Cardinals in front 29-25. A layup by Matt Curry and a pair of free throws by Lyons gave the KNights the final lead of the half as PLattsburgh came up empty on their last two possessions of the period.

Matt Curry with 11 points, Gordon Lyons with 9 and Connor Fedge with 8 lead the Knights. Lyons, Fedge, and James McKenna all with 5 rebounds.

Eddie Correa with a 4x7 display from long range for the Cardinals leads all scorers with 12 points. Chris Manning has 6, while John Perez and Ezra Hodgson each have 5 points. Perez also has 5 rebounds. 

[Bengalsrule]

Knights up 53-53 . 11 mins left.

[Bengalsrule]

59-54 knights 8:31 left!

[Bengalsrule]

Perez and Correa doing all the Cards scoring!!!

[magicman]

All tied up at 64 with 4:15 left to go. It's a barnburner.

[magicman]

69-68 Geneseo in front with 2:08 left to play. Knights take a time out and have the ball.  Geneseo works the ball and fails to hit the rim on their shot and is called for a shot clock violation.

Plattsburgh comes down and misses a three point attempt and Geneseo rebounds and calls time out with 1:06 left to play.

Manning is fouled and goes to the line and misses both free throws but Plattsburgh gets the rebound and Ezra Hodgson makes a jumper to give Plattsburgh the lead 70-69 with 44 seconds left to play.

[Bengalsrule]

1:06 left 69-68 Knights!  Go Cards!!

[magicman]

What a play by John Perez to  save the game for the Cardinals. Up 70-69 the Cardinals had to play defense against the Knights  who had the ball and a chance to win the game with 15 seconds left in the game. Perez managed to steal the ball from Connor Fedge and was fouled with 9 seconds to go. John makes the 1st free throw but misses the second and as the ball bounces off the rim and toward the sideline Perez manages to grab the ball before a Geneseo player gets there and as he's falling out of bounds has the smarts to call time out.

Plattsburgh inbounds the ball after the time out and Perez is fouled once again. This time he makes both free throws to give the Cardinals the win 73-69. Geneseo has one last attempt at a three pointer that is no good and Plattsburgh survives to advance to the Championship game for the 2nd year in a row.   

[amh63]

Nice heady game by your Cardinals late in the 2nd half....lead by their tough defense....especially when they were down by 7?  Go Cardinals!....Magicman

[7express]

Congrats Magic!  Good luck to the Cardinals tomorrow evening!

[magicman]

Thanks amh63 and 7 express, I guess there was a little magic left in the hat after all.

For the Cardinals to win this game when they were missing their top two leading scorers is simply a testament to how well this group of young men came together as a team. I don't know of too many schools that could pull off what the Cardinals did today. Playing shorthanded against one of the top teams in the country and coming back from a 7 point deficit is also indicative of what a great job the coaching staff did in getting these guys ready for this game as well as carrying out the game plan. I'm not sure if they can win on Saturday against the winner of the 2nd semifinal game but this was the one they needed most of all because it should guarantee them a return trip to the NCAA's regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's contest.

I will be walking on air for the rest of the weekend

[7express]

Western could've used some of that magic too, but I know it has to go to the Cardinals first, lol.

[magicman]

Brockport leads Oswego 30-19 at the half


Brockport comes roaring out of the gate and grabs a quick 8-2 lead on the strength of 3 baskets by freshman Clifton Lyerly. The Golden Eagles would extend that lead as Aaron White and Matt Lee connected on back to back 3 pointers. When Brandon Caruthers scored on a layup a short time later Brockport had opened up an 18-4 advantage with 13:42 left in the period and Oswego needed to regroup. The Lakers managed to cut the lead to 8 points at 18-10 but Brockport went back in front 21-10 with 11 minutes left. The Golden Eagles had a dry spell over the next 3:15 before they finally scored another point and the Lakers crept back into contention as a layup by Rashawn Powell pulled them within 6 at 21-15. Aaron White broke the Brockport dry spell with a free throw and Bobby Bell and Matt Lee followed with layups to restore the lead back to double digits at 26-15. Another layup by Bell and a pair of free throws by White gave the Eagles their 2nd largest lead of the half at 30-17 before a pair of free throws by Oswego's Kyle Covley made it 30-19 at the break.

The 2 freshmen, Clifton Lyerly and Aaron White, lead the Eagles with 6 points each and Matt Lee had 5.

Daniel Ross led the Lakers with 6 points.