MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

Jan. 17   Two games today in conference play. Both tipoff at 5:30 PM.


Oswego State  at  New Paltz State      5:30 PM

The Lakers are tied for first place and aren't about to let the Hawks pull off any upset here. The spread has the Lakers favored by 18 points and they should win by double digits. It's just a matter of how big the margin of victory will be. Oswego won by 29 last time they met. Tonight the Hawks keep it closer. Oswego 84 New Paltz 69.


 
Cortland State  at  Oneonta State      5:30 PM

Red Dragonmania Part II.  I can't believe after watching Cortland in action this past weekend that the Oneonta variety will sweep the Cortland variety. Even the oddsmakers have Oneonta listed as a 2 point home dog. Cortland sits all alone in 3rd place and would like to open up a little daylight over their closest pursuers, Oneonta and Geneseo. I think they win this one to get some revenge over Oneonta.  Cortland 86 Oneonta 81. 

[magicman]

Cortland leads Oneonta 41-35 at the half.

Oneonta was down 41-23 with 3 minutes left to play and went on a 12-0 run to end the period and get back into the game.

Nicky Bonura leads Cortland with 11 points.

Mikey McElroy and Lawrence Coleman with 10 points each for Oneonta.

[magicman]

Oswego leads New Paltz 40-20 at the half.

Jamie Ferebee leads Oswego with 11 points

Nick Arthur leads the Hawks with 6 points

[magicman]

Amazing finish by Oneonta State as they put up 48 second half points and limit Cortland to just 23. They bury those Red Dragons by an 83-64 final score. In the final 23 minutes of this game Oneonta outscored Cortland by a 60-23 margin. They ended the first half (the final 3 minutes) on a 12-0 run and ended the second half (the final 4 minutes) on an 18-0 run. That's a 30-0 differential in those 7 minutes.   

[magicman]

Oswego State defeats New Paltz State by an 81-52 final score.

The Lakers were up by a single point at 11-10 when they broke out a 21-5 run to double up the Hawks at 32-15 with 6:44 left in the period. Jamie Ferebee hit 3 triples and Tyler Pierre scored 3 times to account for 15 of those 21 points. Oswego continued to increase their lead and went into the half up 40-20.

The Hawks briefly cut the lead to 16 points at the start of the 2nd period but 3 more baskets from behind the arc, 2 by Ferebee and 1 by Ian Schupp quickly put the Lakers back up by 22 and the lead got as high as 31 at 74-43 with 5 minutes left to play.

Jamie Ferebee, with 5 of 6 from downtown led the Lakers with 19 points. He added 3 steals, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Tyler Pierre and Pat Caruso each tossed in 10 points. Mykelle Krecko led the team with 9 rebounds and had five blocked shots.

Andrew Seniuk and Nick Arthur each had 11 points to lead the Hawks. Seniuk had a game high 10 rebounds and Arthur grabbed 8 boards.

Both teams had 12 turnovers but Oswego ruled the boards grabbing 48 rebounds to 32 for the Hawks. Oswego outshot the Hawks in all 3 categories, most notably from the 3 point line. The Lakers hit 10 shots from long range to just a pair for New Paltz.

Oswego moves into sole possession of first place with an 8-1 conference record, a half game ahead of Brockport who is 7-1. The Lakers are 12-4 overall. Next up for Oswego will be a road trip to travel partner, Cortland, on Saturday at 2:00 PM.

New Paltz falls to 1-13 (0-8 YAC) and travels to western New York this weekend to face Fredonia on Friday at 5:30 PM and Buffalo State on Saturday at 2:00 PM.     

[magicman]

Oneonta State 83  Cortland State 64

The Red Dragons played back and forth ball through the first 7 minutes of play when Cortland, up 17-15, put together a 14-2 run to break on top by 14 points at 31-17 with 6:37 left in the half. Those Red Dragons were still up by 12 points at 33-21, when they hit back to back 3 pointers, to boost their margin to 18 points. Cortland, with just under 3 minutes remaining in the period, seemed to be in control and it didn't look good for the team from Oneonta. Down 41-23, Oneonta held Cortland scoreless for the remainder of the half and got 5 straight points from Lawrence Coleman to fuel a 12-0 run, to bring them within 6 points at 41-35, heading into the break. What looked like a blowout was now a ballgame.

The game got even tighter as Mikey McElroy hit Oneonta's first 2 baskets of the 2nd half to make it a one possession game. Carrel Joseph hit a 3 pointer for Cortland, but McElroy responded with one of his own and Lawrence Coleman followed that with a hoop and harm to give Oneonta the lead at 47-46. It was their first lead since they were up 7-6 early in the game. Two ties and two more lead changes would follow and Cortland, down 65-62, would make it a 1 point game on a Joseph basket with exactly 4 minutes to go. Hard to believe but that would be the last point Cortland would score. McElroy buried a jumper and Coleman got another "and one" 3 point play. McElroy scored on a layup and Kevin Mackin nailed a 3 pointer and just like that the score was 75-64 with 1:55 to play. Coleman had a dunk on the next Oneonta possession and then he hit 4 of 4 from the line, sandwiching a Frankie Kelly layup, to close out Cortland 83-64. If you're counting, that was 18 straight points by Oneonta, to end the game.           

Lawrence Coleman and Mikey McElroy shared scoring honors with 24 points each. Coleman grabbed 10 rebounds to give him a double-double and he added 2 assists,2 steals and a block.

McElroy was 10x13 from the field and 3x5 from long distance. He also had 4 rebounds, a block, a steal and 1 assist.

Jack Kolosky just missed a double-double as he captured rebounding honors with his game high 13 boards. He had 9 points, 3 blocks, 2 assists and a steal.

Frankie Kelly had 8 points, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds.


Cortland was led by Carrel Joseph with 19 points and a team high 8 rebounds. He also had 2 blocks, 2 steals and 1 assist.

Nicky Bonura had 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.

Oneonta outshot Cortland from the field 57.4% (31x54) to 37.5% (24x64). That's the story of the game right there. Cortland had 14 turnovers to 13 for Oneonta.

Oneonta moves into sole possession of 3rd place with a 6-2 conference record. They are 9-6 overall. They head west this weekend to face Buffalo State and Fredonia for the first time this season. The Bengals host them at 5:30 PM on Friday night.

Cortland falls to 11-5 overall and 6-3 in the YAC. They hold down the 4th spot in the standings a half game ahead of 5-3 Geneseo. Cortland is off until Saturday when they will host Oswego at 2:00 PM.

[magicman]

The latest D3hoops Top 25 Poll that came out on Monday shows Rochester as the only East Region team in the Top 25. The Yellowjackets after suffering their first loss of the year on Sunday fell from the #3 spot with 549 points to the #8 spot with 448 points.

The only other East Region team with a mention is Brockport State who sneaks back into the Others Receiving Votes category with 3 points.

[Bengalsrule]

Tough weekend coming up in the 'Yac. We will be passing the halfway point of 'Yac season and "the majority of 'Yac teams" still have a chance to win it (reg season title). Oneonta at BUFF STATE Friday and then at Fredonia Sat. Cortland hosting Oswego Saturday and Plattsburgh visiting both Geneseo and Brockport this weekend!  OOOwweee.  The best that my BENGALS could do this weekend would be to move up just 1 spot IF (and thats a BIG IF) they win both of their games this weekend!

Gonna miss All-Time' supportive comments tomorrow as I'm sure that he will be picking the Red Dragons (Oneonta) to win at Buff State. Having won 8 of their last 10 games, Oneonta is shaping up to be the team that everyone thought they could be!  All-Time gets my vote for #1 BENGAL fan who lives outside of the 716 in the 1st half of SUNYAC season!!

Tough weekend indeed.

Go BENGALS!!

[All-Time]

Bengalsrule- I could play this a couple of ways. I could use the Magicman's reverse psychology and pick Buffalo State to win, since I've been pretty bad at picking games this season. Hoping that I am wrong and my Red Dragons pull off the win.
The Buffalo State arena is a beautiful place to play, but a very tough shooting gym, so I hope the Red Dragons don't rely on the 3 ball to win the game.
Buffalo State has shown that it can put up a lot of points, I expect this one to be a track meet in the 90's or even in the 100's.
Oneonta has been playing extremely well of late, their only conference losses are to Brockport at Brockport which you know is a nightmare to play in and Oswego at Oswego.
This is a very important road trip for the Red Dragons. They need to show that they can win on the road against some good teams. So I'm picking the Red Dragons to continue playing great basketball and knock off the Bengals in a THRILLA.

Brockport at home against the struggling Cardinals. Do you think the Magicman makes the trip to put some of the new Magic potion into the Cardinals Gatorade Tub, or he just gives it to Coach Curle to do? I hope the Cardinals get their game going again soon. It's no fun when their not in the mix. Plus I like it when the Magicman is happy.

Fredonia all over New Paltz as is Geneseo over Potsdam.

Enjoy the Games.

[magicman]

Jan. 20            Four games scheduled today all in conference play

      
Potsdam State  at  Geneseo State        5:30 PM

Just a week ago things were looking good for the Knights, as they were tied at the top of the conference standings with Oswego and had just beaten the other 1 loss team, Brockport, by 20 points.   Things went south in a hurry for Geneseo, as they fell to the Bengals in Buffalo, a result that wasn't all that unexpected. The loss on their home court the next day to Fredonia was unexpected, however, and dropped the Knights a full 2 games behind Brockport and 2.5 games in back of the Lakers. To further complicate matters the Knights went from the possibility of hosting the YAC tournament or grabbing a first round bye, to the 5th seed and playing a first round game on the road, as Oneonta and Cortland both jumped in front of them as well.

Such is life in the SUNYAC where 8 teams are fighting for 6 spots and it will, no doubt, come down to that final weekend, as it does every year, to determine the playoff participants and the top seeds. Lots of games remain to be played as everyone has 9 or 10 conference matchups left. Teams that had close losses and went 5-3 or 4-5  can go 8-1 or 7-2 in the 2nd half to improve their position.

This evening the Knights host cellar dweller Potsdam State and who better to play when you're looking to regain your swagger than the Bears. I wish it wasn't so but Potsdam is a young team and is still a few years away from contending under new coach, Jim Bechtel. They need an infusion of talent that will hopefully be coming with his recruitment classes over the next couple of years. The Bears are still looking for that initial conference win and I only see a couple of chances where that might happen. Tonight isn't one of them. The point spread favors the Knights by a 22 point margin. The Bears will be hard pressed to beat the spread. Geneseo wins this one by a 94-74 final score.
         


New Paltz State  at  Fredonia State        5:30 PM

The Blue Devils are tied for the 6th and final playoff spot with Buffalo State. Both teams have a 1.5 game lead on Plattsburgh but are at least 2 games behind any of the teams in front of them. That makes this game a must win situation for Fredonia because they can't afford to lose to a team that's at the bottom of the standings. Fresh off an upset over Geneseo has to be a confidence builder for the Blue Devils but they need to focus on tonight's game and not look ahead to the Oneonta matchup tomorrow.

New Paltz is in the same boat as Potsdam. It's a boat that's full of leaks and going down fast. They won't have many chances for a conference win but at least tonight they aren't facing one of the conference leaders. The point spread has the Blue Devils favored by 14 points. The Hawks have been beaten by double figures in 10 of their 13 losses. I think they keep it respectable tonight but still come up short. Fredonia 77 New Paltz 70. 


Oneonta State  at  Buffalo State        5:30 PM  Featured Game of the Day

The Red Dragons are definitely the surprise of the first half as they come into this game all alone in 3rd place with a 6-2 conference mark. They are a half game ahead of Cortland and a full game ahead of Geneseo but Oneonta holds the tiebreaker over Cortland having beat those Red Dragons twice and currently owns a victory over the Knights in their one meeting so far this season. Those tiebreakers could go a long way toward a higher seed after the YAC schedule is complete. This weekend will be a big test for Oneonta as they face a legitimate contender in the Bengals and a hungry Blue Devil squad that hasn't tasted the playoffs since the 2012-13 season. Winners of 3 straight, the Red Dragons will be looking to avenge a pair of losses to the Bengals last year. They are only 3-7 against Buff State in the last 5 years and the last time they won in the Queen City was 7 years ago when they were co-champs of the regular season with Plattsburgh.

The Bengals are trying to overcome a slow start in conference play and climb higher up the ladder. Two one point losses to Oswego and Brockport, the top 2 teams, have been costly. A second loss to the Golden Eagles last weekend dropped them back below .500 in the YAC and could affect them down the road in a tiebreaker situation. They could win both games this weekend and still be in 6th place. In fact, I think there's a good chance that will happen.

The oddsmakers have made the Bengals a 5 point choice in this game and despite the recent winning streak of the Red Dragons they haven't had a lot of luck in the Sports Arena. I think the standings get tightened up even more as Buffalo State wins this one 92-88.     



   
Plattsburgh State     at  Brockport State     5:30 PM

A month ago I would have thought this would be the Featured Game of the Day. Lots of things have happened since then and for the Cardinals they have all been bad. The team is mired in the longest overall losing streak of Coach Tom Curle's time at Plattsburgh (the team also lost 7 in a row back in 2008-09) and the longest home court losing streak under Curle of 6 games. The fortunes of a team that was 6-1 have fallen to the point that they are now in serious jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the first time since that 2008-09 season. After starting out 2-0 in the YAC they are now 2-6 and those 6 conferences losses in a row also set a new record under Curle's leadership.

The Cardinals climb up the standings into a playoff position will be a difficult one. Not impossible but difficult. Plattsburgh is the only school that has yet to play either of the winless teams in the YAC. They could (note I said could here) get 4 wins there, that would help them out considerably. That leaves them with 6 games left against the top 5 teams and 5 of those 6 games are on the road. They need to win 3 of those games to have a chance to make the playoffs.

Since the advent of the 6 team playoff era, 4 years ago the 6th place team has had a 9-9 record three times and a 10-8 record once. So Plattsburgh will have to come up with at least 7 wins to get to that magic number and even then it may not be enough.

Tonight's game against the Golden Eagles will likely be another battle similar to the last time this pair met in Plattsburgh, when Brockport won 94-88. That game was marred by 3 officials that were more concerned about blowing their whistles than letting the teams play basketball (52 personal fouls and 5 technicals). Both teams were the recipients of numerous questionable calls. A technical with 30 seconds left on Plattsburgh's bench turned the game from a single possession to a multiple possession game and completely changed the way the final seconds played out. Hopefully this evening the players can decide the outcome and not the zebras.

Brockport with the best overall record of any YAC team at 12-3 is a half game behind Oswego in conference play at 7-1. After getting shellacked by Geneseo in their lone YAC loss, when Brockport's two leading scorers only combined for 13 points, the Golden Eagles have ripped off 3 conference wins in a row. They squeak by Buffalo State by 1 point in Buffalo, then bury Fredonia and beat the Bengals again, in a rematch 4 days after their first meeting. Which Brockport team will show up tonight? The one that looked good with 12 solid wins or the team that stunk up the joint in their 3 losses.

The oddsmakers have made the Golden Eagles a solid 7 point favorite here and I have no reason to think that is wrong. Brockport is a veteran club and 5 of their top 6 players in minutes per game are members of the senior class and the conference is dominated this year by senior led teams. Plattsburgh's 10 man rotation doesn't have a single senior. They start 3 sophomores and 2 juniors. A junior and 2 sophs are the first 3 off the bench.

The Cardinals have won 6 of the past 10 meetings and have won in Brockport in 3 of the last 4 years. I hope they can do so again. Plattsburgh State 84 Brockport 81               

[magicman]

Buffalo State leads Oneonta State 58-49 at the half.

Mike Henry and Lovell Smith each with 15 points for Buffalo State. Nico McLean with 10.

Mikey McElroy leads Oneonta with 15 points and Lawrence Coleman has 11.

[magicman]

Brockport State leads Plattsburgh State 43-41 at the half.

Clifton Lyerly with a huge first half has 24 points and 5 rebounds. Hamed Shamseldin has 9 points.

Eli Bryant has 13 points for the Cardinals and Isaiah Hill has 10 points and 6 boards.

[magicman]

Fredonia leads New Paltz 32-28.

Dante Williams leads the Blue Devils with 8 points.

Dylan Balducci has 8 points for the Hawks and Nick Arthur has 7.

[magicman]

Geneseo over Potsdam 42-27 at the break.

CJ Burke with 19 points to lead the Knights.

Nosa Onabor with 8 points for the Bears.

[Bengalsrule]

Buffalo State defeats Oneonta State by a 101-94 final score.

Big win.  It should be noted that Coach Cam did not make the game!  His wife went into labor yesterday in preparation to deliver their first child!