MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

Buffalo State's live stats crapped out at halftime but I managed to get an audio feed to listen to the last few minutes.

Buff State up 95-84 over New Paltz with 1:30 left to play.

Oswego wins over Potsdam 69-54.

Fredonia up 63-59 over Oneonta with 1:41 to go.

[magicman]

Buffalo State lets New Paltz creep back near the end with some turnovers and the Hawks get it back to a 1 possession game before 2 key free throws by Anyar Majak salt it away for Buff State. The game goes final and it's 97-93.

[magicman]

Fredonia defeats Oneonta 72-66.  Amir Billups and Tyrone Clark with 14 each to lead the Blue Devils. Elliot Rogers and Ray Parris both score 12. Red Dragon's Jackson Zuvic was the game's high scorer with 25 pts and 8 rebounds. Zach Mager added 11 and Frankie Kelly had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

[magicman]

In the Buffalo State-New Paltz game Rod Epps led the Bengals with 25 points (7x18 fg, 4x10 3's, 7x10 ft) and Shareef Taylor had 25 (10x18 fg, 1x2 3's, 4x4 ft) for the Hawks.

Bengals had 5 players hit double figures as Jake Simmons scored 17pts, (7x16 fg, 3x8 3's) with 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 rebounds. Maurice Miles had 15 pts (6x8 fg, 1x1 3's, 2x4 ft) and led the team with 5 rebounds. Seth Runge scored 12 points on 6x9 from the field and Anyar Majak had 10 points but none bigger than his 2 foul shots with 14 seconds left which gave the Bengals a 4 point, 2 possession lead.

Bengals were up comfortably 95-84 with 1:23 left to play. Hawks Matt Devine scored on a layup, and New Paltz sent Buffalo State to the line for a 1 & 1. Bengals missed the foul shot and Shareef Taylor scores to cut the lead to 7 at 95-88. Bengals then turn the ball over and Runge gets his 5th foul hitting Devine in the act of shooting a three pointer. He promptly makes all 3 foul shouts to cut the lead to 4 with 39 seconds to play. Bengals then turn the ball over once more and Devine is fouled again with 14 seconds remaining. He makes them both to cut it to 95-93, setting the stage for Majak's heroics to finally ground the Hawks and making Devine's 3 point attempt at the buzzer meaningless.

In addition to Shareef Taylor's 25 point night Devine had 19 points (4x13fg, 2x8 3's 9x9 ft) and completed a double-double with 11 rebounds. Deveino McRae had 16 pts (5x7 fg,6x6 ft) with 10 rebounds for his double-double. Shalik Jenkins also had 16 pts (3x10 fg,0x2 3's, 10x10 ft). Bengals outshot the Hawks from the field 35x68 (51.5%) to 27x65 (41.5%) and from the 3 point line. 10x21 (47.6%) for Buffalo and 4x15 (26.7%) for the Hawks. New Paltz made twice as many free throws as the Bengals going 35x37 (94.6%) to 17x27 (63.0%). Bengals with only 4 turnovers to 12 for New Paltz but the Bengals certainly came at a bad time. Luckily they had the right guy at the line at the right time in Majak.

Buffalo State ups their record to 4-1 and most importantly is tied at the top of the conference standings with Cortland at 2-0. Bengals now off until they travel north next weekend to face first Potsdam and then Plattsburgh. I predict they'll go 1-1 on their road trip.

New Paltz will meet a tough opponent on Tuesday when they host Eastern Connecticut at 7:00 PM. The Hawks fall to 3-3 overall (1-1).

[magicman]

Oswego 69 Potsdam 64.

Bears hung with the Lakers for the first half and 5 minutes into the 2nd period. Lakers only up 43-41 with 15:31 to play go on a 10-0 run to open up a 53-41 margin. Closest the Bears could get after that was 6 on one ocassion. Lakers free throws boosted the lead to the final 15 point margin.

Hayden Ward once again with a big game as he scored 29 points with 11 rebounds. Sean Michele with 16 and Chris Gilkes with 11. Rashawn Powell nearly gets a double-double with 9 pts and 9 boards.

Mark Lake is the only Bear in double digits as he scores  12 points. Rob Duquette with 9 points and 7 boards.

[Bengalsrule]

Buffalo State ups their record to 4-1 and most importantly is tied at the top of the conference standings with Cortland at 2-0. Bengals now off until they travel north next weekend to face first Potsdam and then Plattsburgh. I predict they'll go 1-1 on their road trip.

"1-1"?? Should I assume that the 1 loss would be against Potsdam??

[magicman]

Buffalo State ups their record to 4-1 and most importantly is tied at the top of the conference standings with Cortland at 2-0. Bengals now off until they travel north next weekend to face first Potsdam and then Plattsburgh. I predict they'll go 1-1 on their road trip.

"1-1"?? Should I assume that the 1 loss would be against Potsdam??

I seem to remember the Bears gave you all you could handle up there last year. With no Justin and no Nico who knows? And 2 years ago you barely escaped with an 83-81 nailbiter.   If you play the last few minutes like you did today anything's possible!!!

[Bengalsrule]

OUCH Magic ! Your memory is correct. I may have to bum a ride to make this north country trip to see these 2 games first hand.  . Hoping for a 2-0 trip but hey....you never know.

   I see the forecast calls for snow Friday and Saturday! The weather up there on my last trip was so bad I thought we should have pulled over. I wasn't driving so I just closed my eyes. I hope the North Country weather Gods will be gentle on this trip! I'll look for the red hat!!!

[magicman]

Cortland St. 68 Plattsburgh 55

Cortland continued their mastery over the Cardinals as they took control of this game halfway through the 1st period and fought off every challenge the Cardinals would throw at them. Fortunately for the Red Dragons they got Plattsburgh on a day that the basket must have had a lid on it because the Cardinals certainly had a hard time putting it through the hoop. Red Dragons outshot, outrebounded, and out maneuvered, the Cards on Saturday afternoon showing why they are the team to beat in the SUNYAC this season. It seemed like every basket the Red Dragons made, was either a layup or a three pointer, only because, in reality, that was the case. Cortland made 24 field goals in the game and 13 of them were layups, while 7 were 3 pointers. Meanwhile the Cards were missing so many layups I got tired of hearing Bobby Comstock, Cortland's radio announcer, describing yet another missed Cardinal opportunity.

After several ties and lead changes in the early going Cortland held a 17-16 edge with 10 minutes left in the half. Each team missed on their next 3 possessions until Dragons Lamard Herron hit back to back jumpers in a 30 second span to boost the lead to 5. A Harrison Hefele layup and Jesse Winter trifecta sandwiched a layup by the Cards Shamoy McIntosh aa the lead grew to 8 points. With 3:47 left in the half the Red Dragons stretched it to double digits at 30-20 to complete a 13-4 run. The teams played even for the rest of the period and Cortland took that 10 point edge into the break.

Red Dragons opened the 2nd half with 4 quick points but a layup by Gary Tibbs and 9 straight points by McIntosh fueled an 11-0 Plattsburgh run to make it a one possession game with 16 minutes left to play. It was the Card's last hurrah as they would get no closer the rest of the game. Three consecutive layups by Jeremy Smith, Kevin McMahon, and Herron built the lead back up but  a Mike Mitchell triple cut it to 7 points at 47-40 with 9:22 left. The Red Dragons would have no part of a comeback. however, and promptly reeled off 8 straight points on a Hefele layup, plus back to back three pointers by Brian Manning. Just like that the lead was back to 15 at 55-40 with 7:22 remaining. Closest Plattsburgh got after that was 11 points.

Cortland certainly didn't put on a shooting clinic yesterday, I've witnessed one of those in past performances by the Red Dragons, but compared to Plattsburgh's exhibition it sure felt like one. I'd like to think the Cardinals suffered a letdown after their big win the day before at Oswego, but in this league if you don't bring it every game, especially on the road, you're going to be disappointed at the end of the day.

Cortland shot 24x55 from the field, a respectable 43.6% and 7x22 from 3 point range (31.8%). They were 13x18 from the stripe (72.2%). They grabbed 42 rebounds to 38 for the Cards and committed 15 turnovers to 14 for Plattsburgh. McMahon and Hefele with 15 and Smith with 13 led the Dragon in the scoring column. McMahon was also the game's leading rebounder with 11. They recieved solid performances from Jesse Winter with 9 pts, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, while Brian Manning added 7 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, 2 rebounds, and a blocked shot. Lamard Herron had 8 points and 4 rebounds as well.

Plattsburgh got 17 points from Shamoy McIntosh and 10 points with 5 rebounds from Gary Tibbs. Chris Manning, Plattsburgh's shortest starter found hiimself in the unusual position of being the team's leading rebounder with 9 boards. He scored 6 points, had 5 assists and 2 steals. John Perez had 7 points and 7 rebounds. Cardinals shot 21x64 fro the field (32.8%) and only 5x25 from long distance (20%). The free throw percentage wasn't good either as they made only half of their attempts, going 8x16.

Cortland remains undefeated at 5-0 (2-0) and tied with Buffalo State at the top of the conference standings. They will take their undefeated streak on the road this coming Tuesday as they travel to Geneseo for an 8:00 PM contest. It's the first of 6 consecutive road  games for the Red Dragons as they won't play in Corey Gymnasium again until January 11th when they host the Buffalo State Bengals, in what looks like a possible battle for 1st place.

Plattsburgh will look to regroup this Tuesday as they travel to face a tough Keene State team from the Little East Conference. The Cardinals are 4-2 (1-1) on the season and have another busy weekend upcomng as Fredonia and Buffalo State visit Memorial Hall.               

[magicman]

Congratulations to Hayden Ward, who was named as the SUNYAC Player of the Week, for the week ending 12-1-12. He started the week with 24 points and 6 boards against Cobleskill on Tuesday and kept getting better.  Ward had two huge games over the weekend. On Friday against Plattsburgh he scored 25 points with 10 rebounds and topped that off Saturday against Potsdam with 29 points and 11 rebounds.. He also reached the 1000 point mark in the Potsdam game. Here's the write up from the SUNYAC website:


"Hayden Ward has been named the SUNYAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week. Ward averaged a double-double with 26.0 points and 10.7 boards per game, while shooting 53.8 percent from thefloor and 94.7 percent from the free-throw line and playing all but four minutes of three games. He matched a career-high 25 points in a two-point loss to Plattsburgh on Friday night. Ward then set a new career high the next day by scoring 29 points against Potsdam. During the game, he also eclipsed the 1,000-point mark early in the second half, becoming the 16th in Laker men's basketball history to do so."

[magicman]

Nine teams in action tonight in the  YAC with only Buffalo State idle.

St. Lawrence at Potsdam State  7:00 PM

Both teams off to slow starts. Saints with a 2 game win streak against lesser competition than first 3 games which were all losses. Potsdam still showing inconsistencies that plagued them all of last year. Saints own a 4 game winning streak in this series and the last 2 haven't been close. Bears 1-4, hope home cooking is the answer and look to sweep their North Country rivals as they defeated Clarkson last week 77-65.  Point spread has the Bears favored by 6.5 points but I think it might be closer. I'll take Potsdam to edge the Saints 73-70.

Eastern Connecticut State at New Paltz State  7:00 PM

The Hawks host the team that eliminated Oswego last year in the NCAA tournament. This year's Warriors' team isn't as strong as that version was, but will still be a tough opponent. New Paltz can score but gives up a lot of points as well. Warriors more of a  defensive minded team. Neither team has much help off the bench but think the Hawks is a little longer. Oddsmakers have made the Hawks a 5.5 point favorite. I think that's about right. I'll go with New Paltz 81-78 over the Warriors.

Fredonia State at Houghton  7:00 PM

The Blue Devils travel to the newest member of the Empire 8 conference as the Houghton Highlanders transition over to D3. Houghton comes into the contest with an 0-4 record and has only played 1 D3 school losing to Pitt-Bradford from the AMCC conference 71-70. Fredonia with a 3-3 log, has already lost to AMCC leader Hilbert in their opening game of the season. Last 2 games have showed improvement as they hung with New Paltz before losing in OT and defeated Oneonta. Posted line has the Blue Devils listed as a slight favorite at 2.5 points. I think they pull off the win here 72-66.

Skidmore at Oneonta State 7:00 PM

Oneonta 1-4 has played a tougher schedule than the 4-1 Thoroughbreds. Skidmore's 4 wins have come against teams with a combined 5-19 record. Oneonta's 4 losses have been to teams with a 17-6 combined record. Point spread has Skidmore favored by 3.5 points. I also think this will be a close one. Throughbreds lost a lot from last year's NCAA tourney team but another solid group of freshmen blending well with veterans. Red Dragons capable of pulling off a minor upset here but I think Skidmore will prevail 66-61.

Plattsburgh State at Keene State  7:00 PM

Plattsburgh State getting a little road weary as they hit the road for their 4th straight game. Keene State, also from the Little East Conference will be another tough game for the Cardinals. The Owls are one of the preseason favorites to duke it out for the conference title as they return plenty of firepower from last year's 19-8 team. The Owls are a big team, led by 6'10" forward Rashad Wright (14.6 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 30 minutes per game) and 6'6" forward Eric Fazio (14.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 27 min.pg). 6'8" Montel Walcott and 7'0" Nate Howard come off the bench to spell the starters. Last year's leading scorer, guard Ryan Martin is also averaging double figures with 12.8 ppg. Like the Cardinals the Owls have a deep rotation with 10 players getting double digit minutes per game. Owls come into the game as slight favorites with the posted line at 1.5 points. I'm certainly rooting for the Cardinals to come away with a win here but think they may be up against it. Hope I'm wrong but think Keene State will win this one 75-70.

Oswego at Brockport 8:00 PM

Lakers coming off weekend split in the YAC will want to stay close to the leaders. Brockport, yet to play a conference game, gets the defending champs right off the bat. Still better than Plattsburgh, as we had to get them on the road. Eagles coming off a 2-1 slate in the Wendy's Classic have been made slight 3.5 point favorites here by the oddsmakers. I think that's a little out of whack. I'm taking Hayden Ward and the Lakers 81-76.

Cortland at Geneseo  8:00 PM

Cortland brings their undefeated record into Geneseo's Alumni Fieldhouse looking to take over undisputed 1st place in the YAC. Red Dragons with rather easy wins over the weekend may find the going tougher tonight. These teams faced each other 3 times last year beating each other on the road before Cortland won the rubber match in the SUNYAC tournament. Both teams return quite a bit from last year's teams but I think the Red Dragons return more. Point spread favors Cortland by 1.5 points. I think they win it 77-71             

   

[magicman]

Plattsburgh leads Keene State 31-30 at the half. Eight players in the scoring column for the Cardinals led by Chris Manning and Ezra Hodgson with 6 each. Owls with 7 players on the board led by Ryan Martin with 8. Sloppily played half with 21 turnovers between the 2 teams Keene St. with 12 and the Cards with 9. Cards had an 8 point lead on 2 separate ocassions.

[magicman]

New Paltz down at half to Eastern Connecticut 42-28.

Oneonta led Skidmore at the half 40-36 but now falls behind 64-58 with 3:49 left to play

Fredonia leads Houghton 42-29 with 7:56 left in the game.

Potsdam led St Lawrence 32-31 at the break but now trails 48-47 with 8:41 left to play.

Plattsburgh still up by 1 51-50 with 8:24 left to play

[jdex]

Geneseo getting great bench scoring and leads Cortland 31-27 at intermission. Spares have struck for 24 of the Knights' points led by M. Curry's 10 pts on 4x7fg, 2x3 3s. K. McMahon with 10 points for the Corts who are a mere 1x2 in threes. Both squads shooting in 40 percent range from the field. Eight Gens played 10' each in the period, another 12', and the 10th 8'

[magicman]

Plattsburgh up 60-53 with 4:06 to play over Keene St.

St Lawrence up 52-50 over Potsdam with 4:18 to play.

New Paltz closed the gap now trails Eastern Connecticut 58-54 with 10:05 to go.

Final at Oneonta as Skidmore wins 66-63

Fredonia up 56-31 late in the game.

Geneseo over Cortland 31-27 at the half.