MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

An unusual Thursday afternoon SUNYAC game on tap for today matching NewPaltz State at Onenta State at 4:00 PM

This is a tale of two teams going in opposite directions. The Red Dragons, after winning 3 of 4 to close out 2014 have yet to win a game in the new year and are on a 4 game losing streak. The Hawks, who could barely win a game in 2014, going 2-5, have won their last 4 games and were underdogs in all 4 of them. Hard to say which recent win was the biggest surprise. I thought beating Cortland on the road when those Red Dragons were undefeated was pretty huge for the Hawks. Then the home win over Brockport followed by another home win over Geneseo really got my attention. I think the Hawks are just trying to make me look bad as I predicted them to lose all three of those games. Oneonta hasn't done me any favors either as I picked the Red Dragons to win their last two games which were in Oneonta and they laid an egg in both of them. Today's game is a must win for Oneonta though, as they can't afford to lose another home game, especially to a team that wasn't even picked to be in the playoffs. (although that may no longer be the case). The oddsmakers have Oneonta favored by a slight 3 point margin in today's contest. I think that the Hawks winning streak will come to an end today. Oneonta wins this one by an 81-75 final score.   

[magicman]

Oneonta State leads New Paltz by a 44-31 score at the half.

Mikey McElroy with a big first half for the Red Dragons as he scores 14 points in 15 minutes with a perfect 5x5 from the field and 4x4 from the line. Jackson Zuvic and Lawrence Coleman both have 7 points.

RJ Rosa leads the Hawks with 7 points. Zach Cone-Douglas and Kevin Roach have 6 points each.

[magicman]

Final score Oneonta 84 New Paltz 63.

The Red Dragons made this one look easy as they took command of the game in the latter part of the first period and never looked back. Up by 13 at the break they quickly stretched the lead to 20 less than 3 minutes into the 2nd half. Twice the Hawks would cut it to 12 but could never get it back to single digits. Up 63-51 with 12:14 to play the Red Dragons put this one away with a 15-4 run over the next 8 minutes to make it 78-55. In the final 12 minutes of the game New Paltz only scored 12 points.

I had this game as an 81-75 Oneonta win. I was close with the Oneonta part but the Hawks didn't bring their offense tonight.

Zach Mager had a big 2nd half for Oneonta as he poured in 14 points to give him a game high 19 markers (6x18 fg, 5x13 3's, 2x2 ft). Mikey McElroy had 16 points (6x7 fg, 4x4 ft) and 7 rebounds. Lawrence Coleman had 13 points (5x9 fg, 3x3 ft) and a game high 8 boards. Jackson Zuvic came off the bench and scored 12 points (5x8 fg, 2x4 3's), grabbed 7 rebounds, had 2 blocks and 1 assist in 17 minutes of court time. Point guard Frankie Kelly had 6 points on a pair of 3 pointers, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

Zach Cone-Douglas was the only New Paltz player in double figures as he dropped in 15 points (4x8 fg, 2x5 3's, 5x6 ft). RJ Rosa and Kevin Roach each scored 9 points and Roach led the team with 5 rebounds.

Oneonta just killed the Hawks off the glass as they had twice as many rebounds as New Paltz. The final tally was 48 to 24 and 22 of Oneonta rebounds came on the offensive end leading to 23 2nd chance points. The Red Dragons also outshot the Hawks in all 3 categories, with the long ball being the major difference. Oneonta made 11 of 28 (39.3%) from downtown, while the Hawks only shot 6 of 22 (27.3%) Those 2 areas pretty much determined the outcome of the game. Both teams were a little sloppy with their ball handling as the Hawks committed 18 turnovers versus 20 for the Red Dragons.

Oneonta improves to 6-7 overall and 3-3 in the conference. They moved from a 6th place tie into sole possession of 5th place. They will be idle until January 23rd when they travel west to take on Buffalo State and then Fredonia the next day.

New Paltz also has a 6-7 overall record as their 4 game winning streak comes to an end. They are 4-2 in the YAC and fall out of sole occupancy of 2nd place into 4th place all by themselves. Like their travel partner, Oneonta, The Hawks are off until the following weekend when they make the westward trip to face the same two teams as the Red Dragons. 

There will be some big games this weekend that could bring wholesale changes to the conference standings. Here is the schedule of upcoming games:


Friday Jan. 16th

Oswego State      Plattsburgh State   5:30 PM  This one is the Game of the Week in the battle for First Place   
   
Fredonia State      Geneseo State     5:30 PM   An Oswego loss and a pair of Geneseo wins give the Knights a share of 1st   
   
Buffalo State      Brockport State      5:30 PM 
   
Cortland State      Potsdam State     5:30 PM


Saturday Jan. 17th

Cortland State      Plattsburgh State      2:00 PM    Another big game for the Cards. A win gives them 1st if they won on Fri.   
   
Buffalo State      Geneseo State            2:00 PM    Knights need this one as well, to land in 1st place at week's end. 
   
Fredonia State      Brockport State        2:00 PM 
   
Oswego State      Potsdam State          2:00 PM 
   


   

[magicman]

Spent about an hour this afternoon before I left to watch the Cardinals play Oswego and posted my predictions of todays games. Once again they didn't show up on the SUNYAC board. Can't figure out whats going on. I was in a big hurry and didn't double check to see that they went through. I won't make that mistake again.

Here's what I had:

Plattsburgh 79 Oswego 75

Geneseo 77 Fredonia 59

Buffalo State 83 Brockport 80

Cortland 75 Potsdam 66

[magicman]

Final Scores:

Plattsburgh 70 Oswego 66

Cortland 78 Potsdam 64

Geneseo 80 Fredonia 71

Buffalo State 85 Brockport 69

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State 70 Oswego State 66

Another closely contested game this evening in Memorial Hall between the Lakers and Cards. Plattsburgh jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on a 3 pointer by Eddie Correa and a pair of inside buckets by Reggie Willians. Oswego came right back with the next 7 points on a jumper by Rashawn Powell, a layup by Kyle Covely and a 3 ball by Dustin Pond. That set the tone for an action filled half that saw the teams trading baskets and the Cardinals with the lead for almost the entire period. The Cards went back in front on another layup by Williams and another 3 pointer by Correa. Oswego would trail by a small margin over the next 5 minutes and finally caught the Cards again at the 10:16 mark when Pond drained his 2nd 3 pointer to knot the score at 22 each. 7 unanswered Cardinal points were followed by 5 straight Laker points as the teams continued to trade baskets until the 3:21 mark, with the score 35-31 Cardinals. Correa and Williams then ended the half much like they started it with 7 points between them, as the Cardinal's opened up a double digit lead, 42-31 at the break. The Cardinals went to Williams 8 times in the first period and 7 times he connected to lead all scores with 14 points.

The Lakers needed to come out of the locker room and cut into the Cardinal lead but instead it was the Cardinals who took the initiative and once again it was Williams with a hoop and harm on the Cards first possession. Thirty seconds later Williams again scored inside followed by Correa with another layup and Plattsburgh had raced to a commanding 49-33 lead. It would be the largest lead of the contest. The Cardinals have had problems playing with a double digit lead this year and seem to lack the killer instinct to put teams away. Friday night would be another example of just how badly that fact hits home. Over 4 minutes would go by before the Cardinals would score another point. Oswego cut the lead to 10 and after 2 free throws by Plattsburgh's Kyle Richardson made it 51-39, Kyle Coveley swished a 3 to cut the lead back to single digits. Walter Sampson's layup reduced it to 7 points but the Cards' Jordan Moody buried a three ball to build the lead back to 10. What should have been a momentum stopper only seemed to bring out the best in the Lakers as Alex Rawa, Sampson and then Rawa again, hit back to back to back 3 pointers and suddenly it was 54-53 and the Cardinals' 16 point lead was down to 1 and there was 11 minutes left in the game. Reggie Williams (who else) to the rescue, as the big guy once again, was fouled as he made another layup. He made the free throw to extend the lead to 4 points, but the Lakers countered with back to back trips to the line and with 8:39 to play the Oswego comeback was complete as the teams were tied at 57 each. The Cards made 1 of 2 free throws on their next possession and after both teams came up empty on their next two trips down the floor, Alex Rawa buried his 3rd three pointer to give the Lakers a 60-58 lead. The teams traded jumpers, Sampson for the Lakers and Ezra Hodgson for the Cards, before Williams on another move in the paint evened the score at 62. Oswego misfired on their possession, but Plattsburgh's Shamoy McIntosh got mugged and a no call gave the ball back to the Lakers. Again they failed to convert, but got the offensive rebound and called timeout. The Lakers chose to hoist another 3 point attempt that was off the mark and rebounded by Plattsburgh. This time down the court the Cardinals went to Jordan Moody, who made a baseline drive to the hoop that ended with a wraparound layup and the lead.  A lead they wouldn't surrender. The Lakers went to the line with 3:09 left and made 1 of 2 to trail by a point. The teams came up empty on their next possessions and then the Cards' Moody was fouled going after an offensive rebound with 2:12 left.
He made 1 of 2 to make the score 65-63. Oswego once again opted for the long ball, but Xavier Thomas, as he has done so often, showed off his athleticism by running at the shooter and jumping sky high to get a piece of the ball which settled into the hands of Moody. The Cardinals came down and Correa nailed his 3rd triple of the night to give the Cardinals a slight comfort zone with a 5 point 68-63 edge. It lasted 17 seconds as Ian Schupp drained a 3 with 52 ticks left. Plattsburgh took a time out with 46 seconds on the clock and Moody misfired on a 3 ball with 31 seconds to go. The Lakers elected to play on and Alex Rawa went for the lead from downtown with 15 seconds left. Fortunately for the Cardinals he came up short. The same combination of Williams and Correa ended the game making the plays just as they started both halves. Williams rebounded the miss, passed it to Correa, who was fouled and made both free throws to close out Oswego.

Reggie Williams had new career highs tonight as he scored a game high 24 points (11x15 fg, 2x2 ft) and a game high 14 rebounds. The 14 rebounds was also a career high for Reggie and was his 5th double-double of the season. Reggie also added 3 blocks, 2 assists and a steal. The Lakers had no answer for the big guy tonight and it was obvious from the outset that the Cardinals intended to go to him often.
Eddie Correa also had a big night for Plattsburgh with 16 points (4x8 fg, 3x6 3's, 5x6 ft), 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Most of his scoring took place at crucial stages of the game and none were bigger that the final 5 points the Cardinals scored.
Jordan Moody came off the bench and delivered another solid performance with 8 points and 5 rebounds in 15 minutes on the court. Shamoy McIntosh added 6 rebounds, 5 points and 4 assists while Ezra Hodgson had 6 points 4 rebonds and 2 assists.

Plattsburgh outshot Oswego from the field and from the line, with the Lakers holding a decided edge from long distance. The Card won the battle of the boards by a 46-32 margin and turnovers were close with Plattsburgh committing 13 to 11 for Oswego. 

Plattsburgh shooting stats : Field Goals: 26-59  44.1%     3 Pointers: 4-18  22.2%   Free Throws: 14-20  70.0 %
Oswego  shooting stats:      Field Goals  25-58  43.1%     3 Pointers: 9-24  37.5%   Free Throws:  7-15  46.7%

Oswego was led by Walter Sampson with 14 points (5x9 fg, 1x1 3's, 3x8 ft) 6 assists and 3 rebounds. Ian Schupp came off the bench and hit some big shots to total 12 points (4x11 fg, 2x43's, 2x2ft). Kyle Coveley had 11 points (4x10 fg, 1x5 3's, 2x2ft) and Fustin Pond had 10 (4x10 fg, 2x6 3's, 0x2 ft). Alex Rawa just missed a double-double with 9 points (3x7 fg, 3x7 3's, 0x1 ft) and a team leading 11 rebounds. Surprising to see point guard Brian Sortino with only 4 minutes of playing time in the second half. Last year at Oswego he gave the Cardinals fits with 24 points. Last night he wasn't a factor with only 2 points as he was taken out after 4 minutes of the 2nd half and didn't return. Unsure if an injury caused that, but didn't see anything happen to him. Hope he's ok and will look for him in the Potsdam game today.

Plattsburgh improves to 9-3 overall and 4-1 in the conference. They will be a half game behind Oswego because the Lakers have played 1 more game than Plattsburgh. Today's win does give Plattsburgh, at least temporarily, the tiebreaker over Oswego. Plattsburgh will take on Cortland today at 2 PM.

Oswego drops to 9-4 overall and 5-1 in the YAC. They will travel over to Potsdam to face the Bears at 2 PM.
       
                         

[magicman]

Geneseo 80 Fredonia 71

Knights got a bit of a scare thrown at them as the Blue Devils managed to win the 1st half by a score of 36-33. Gordon Lyons and company righted the ship and pulled away in the 2nd period for the win. Lyons with another double-double his 11th in 12 games. He had 21 points 13 rebounds 3 assists, a steal and a block. James McKenna had 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. Andy Drescher and Kevin Crockett both had 12 points. Nick Fessenden tossed in 10 points.

Fredonia got 20 points from Robert Lyles and 17 points from Bayron Carter.   

[magicman]

Not much time today but here are some quick picks.

Cortland State      Plattsburgh State      2:00 PM


Red Dragons ended their losing streak yesterday at Potsdam. Today they start another one. Cardinals favored by 5 points but I  think they win by more than that. Plattsburgh 82 Cortland 69.       
   
Buffalo State      Geneseo State            2:00 PM

I told a certain Buffalo State backer that the Bengals had to go 1-1 on their road trip this weekend. Yesterday they got the front end of that 1-1. Today they get the back end. Geneseo is favored by 6 points. I think it will be a little closer. Geneseo wins by a 77-74 final score     
   
Fredonia State      Brockport State        2:00 PM

Brockport got Clifton Lyerly back yesterday. Today they get their mojo back. It helps that it's Fredonia coming to town. Golden Eagles are 12 point favorites. That might be a bit of a stretch. Brockport 75 Fredonia 65.   
   
Oswego State      Potsdam State          2:00 PM

Lakers need a win to stay in first place. Bears will see to it they get one. I wish it wasn't so. Oswego favored by 13 points. The Bears will be hard pressed to keep it that close. Oswego 79 Potsdam 63.   
   

[magicman]

Final Scores:

Cortland State 68 Plattsburgh State 65   In Overtime

Buffalo State 87 Geneseo State 86

Oswego State 70  Potsdam State 59

Brockport State 84  Fredonia State 73.

[Bengalsrule]

   
Buffalo State      Geneseo State            2:00 PM

I told a certain Buffalo State backer that the Bengals had to go 1-1 on their road trip this weekend. Yesterday they got the front end of that 1-1. Today they get the back end. Geneseo is favored by 6 points. I think it will be a little closer. Geneseo wins by a 77-74 final score     

That "certain Buffalo State backer" figured that 2-0 would be better than 1-1. Thanks to Chris Thompson's free throw with.4 seconds left (after he stole the inbounds pass from Geneseo with 3.6 seconds left and got foiled going to the basket, in a tie game) we didnt have to settle for a  split on the road. In fact with a neutral site victory Tuesday in Albany vs Pine Manor....it's been an excellent week!

[magicman]

   
Buffalo State      Geneseo State            2:00 PM

I told a certain Buffalo State backer that the Bengals had to go 1-1 on their road trip this weekend. Yesterday they got the front end of that 1-1. Today they get the back end. Geneseo is favored by 6 points. I think it will be a little closer. Geneseo wins by a 77-74 final score     

That "certain Buffalo State backer" figured that 2-0 would be better than 1-1. Thanks to Chris Thompson's free throw with.4 seconds left (after he stole the inbounds pass from Geneseo with 3.6 seconds left and got foiled going to the basket, in a tie game) we didnt have to settle for a  split on the road. In fact with a neutral site victory Tuesday in Albany vs Pine Manor....it's been an excellent week!

Yes it has been a good week for Bengal Fans. Congrats to the Bengals. Big game from Rod Epps and Chris Thompson. 30 points and 27 points respectively I believe. I wanted to pick the Bengals in the worst way but was afraid if I did you'd lose... so I used the old reverse logic theory and picked you to lose hoping that'd you'd win.  It worked like a charm. If only I had tried to do the same for my Cardinals. I don't know if we could play any worse than we did. Sad thing is we started out like a house on fire. At one point in the first half the score was Plattsburgh 25 Cortland 9. 21 of those points came on seven 3 pointers from 4 different shooters. There was 7:42 left in the half at the time. The  Cardinals managed to score 1 more basket...another 3 pointer to end up with a whopping 28 points at the break. 3 measly points in nearly 8 minutes. Futility at its finest. I knew we were in trouble at that point and was apprehensive at what the 2nd half would bring. Turns out it was more of the same as Plattsburgh could only manage to score 37 points in the 2nd half and overtime period combined. It was the old "live by the three (8x13 in the first half)...die by the three" (1x11 in the 2nd half and OT). Time to go back to the drawing board and figure some things out...In a hurry.

[Bengalsrule]

I'm predicting that the regular season champ will hav at least 4 loses.  Quote me.

[magicman]

I'm predicting that the regular season champ will hav at least 4 loses.  Quote me.

Obviously you weren't looking at the standings when you made that prediction, since my Cardinals only have 2 losses.

[magicman]

Four games on tap for today all starting at 5:30.

Potsdam State   at     Plattsburgh State        5:30 PM


Geneseo State   at     Cortland State        5:30 PM


Brockport State    at    Oswego State        5:30 PM


   
Buffalo State    at    Fredonia State        5:30 PM
   

[Bengalsrule]

I'm predicting that the regular season champ will hav at least 4 loses.  Quote me.

Obviously you weren't looking at the standings when you made that prediction, since my Cardinals only have 2 losses.

You are killing me there Magic 1!  If things keep going the way they are going I may have to make that ride up north next week. More later after finish my breakfast!!