MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

magicman · February 02, 2013, 03:50:23 PM

Full slate of games today in the conference:

Potsdam State at Oneonta State 4:00 PM

Just 2 weeks ago the Bears were on their longest winning streak in several years, but once again the tide has turned and now they've lost 4 straight since then. Tonight they take on last place Oneonta and the Red Dragons, despite a losing streak of 8 games since their last win, have been playing better ball than the Bears. Even the oddsmakers see a trend as they have Oneonta favored by 2 points. Potsdam won their first meeting by 20 points but the shorthanded Bears will be hard pressed to repeat that effort today. I think Oneonta gets their 2nd YAC win of the season today by a score of 74-70.

Oswego State at Fredonia State 4:00 PM

The Lakers won't be in a good mood today after losing in Buffalo last night. The Blue Devils will feel their wrath. I'm not sure why Hayden Ward sat out most of the 2nd half last night against the Bengals but I don't think it was injury related. I could be wrong about that but we'll find out today. Don't know why you have one of the candidates for YAC Player of the Year on the bench in a game you need to win. Fredonia played Cortland close for about 30 minutes before the Red Dragons pulled away. I think the same thing will happen today. Point spread has the Lakers favored by 8 but I think they 'll win by a larger margin. Oswego 76 Fredonia 63.

Cortland State at Buffalo State 4:00 PM

Once again the Bengals are involved in the biggest game of the day. And just like yesterday's opponent they will be trying to avenge an earlier loss. With 5 losses in the conference in the first round robin the Bengals are looking to defeat the 3rd team that handed them one of those losses having already dispatched Plattsburgh and Oswego at home. Buffalo State has moved into a tie with Oswego for the 4th seed and need a win here to keep pace. The Red Dragons will be a tougher obstacle to overcome however, as they can come at you with an array of 3 point shooters that are unmatched in the conference. Cortland maintains a slim hold on first place and has reeled off 8 wins in a row. Oddsmakers have made the Red Dragons a 5 point road favorite in this contest but I'm going to predict an upset in this one. I think this will be another high scoring game with the Bengals winning the track meet 91- 87.

Plattsburgh State at New Paltz State 4:00 PM

The Hawks finally broke back into the win column last night after 5 conference losses in a row. They are still a game and a half out of the final playoff position. Plattsburgh has won 6 of their last 7 SUNYAC contests and cannot afford a loss here if they want to stay in contact with Cortland. Plattsburgh won their first meeting 2 weeks ago in the Burgh 75-70 and despite building double digit leads on several occasions couldn't reall put the Hawks away. Cards have usually played well in Hawk Center however, and I think they take care of business again today. Oddsmakers favor the Cards by a slim 2 point margin and I anticipate a close game with Plattsburgh on top 85-81.

Brockport State at Geneseo State 8:00 PM

The final game of the day has the Golden Eagles traveling over to Geneseo to take on their travel partners. Brockport is feeling a little pressure now as they have slipped into the final playoff spot and would like to get a little more breathing room on New Paltz in case the Hawks make a late run. The Eagles would also like to climb a little higher in the standings and possibly overtake Buffalo State or Oswego. Geneseo now finds itself in 2nd place for the first time all year and a loss here could drop them into 3rd. Oddsmakers have made the Blue Knights a 6 point favorite but Brockport has had their number over the past 7 years as they hold a 12-4 advantage in this series. Port has also won 4 of the last 5 meeting including their January matchup. I think that Brockport might pull off the upset here so I'll go with them walking out of Alumni Fieldhouse with an 86-83 win

jdex · February 02, 2013, 04:34:42 PM

Cortland playing very well with 48-35 halftime lead ....... B. Manning with 16 pts. for RDragons. His three straight triples midway through the period overcame early Buffalo State ruling ........K. McMahon 9 pts and L. Herron a big 8 pts including four off steals. R. Epps with 13 pts for Buff St. J. Simmons looking like the forgotten Bengal in BS offense. Has 6 pts. Corts J. Winter also looking a bit worn. Scoreless in few minutes. CSt certainly looking fresher off Friday night road action

magicman · February 02, 2013, 04:38:46 PM

Potsdam and Oneonta tied at 33 apiece at the half.

magicman · February 02, 2013, 04:40:48 PM

Oswego 32 Fredonia 22 at the half.

magicman · February 02, 2013, 04:44:17 PM

Plattsburgh 35 New Paltz 31 at the half.

Ezra Hodgson with 9 and Jordan Moody with 8 to lead the Cards in a tightly contested 1st period.

Shareef Taylor with 9 and Matt Devine with 8 for the Hawks.

magicman · February 02, 2013, 05:16:11 PM

Updates:

Cortland leads Buff State 69-58 with 8:34 to go

Potsdam leads Oneonta 65-64 with 1:05 to go

Oswego leads Fredonia 50-37 midway thru the 2nd

Plattsburgh leads New Paltz 55-49 with 11:16 left

magicman · February 02, 2013, 05:21:45 PM

Potsdam defeats Oneonta 73-66

Tied at 60 with 5:48 to go the Bears take charge led by Curtis Pierce with 6 points and Josh Lambert with 4 to pull out the win. Glad i was wrong on this one.

thebear · February 02, 2013, 05:30:43 PM

Pierce certainly filled the scoresheet, 27 points, 13 rebounds 5 assts, three steals. Bears played w/o starters Mark lake Jr. & Colin Peterson, but got big games from Brandon Williams and Zac Adams.

jdex · February 02, 2013, 05:32:44 PM

Cortland 88, Buffalo St. 72 goes final. Ninth straight victory

First place Corts prevail 61-42 out of the half, then watch BS claw back within 65-56. Big stuff by K. McMahon cools the Bengals, a turnover-prone bunch who failed to make even more hay upon RDragons drought. CSt gathers its wits and gradually pulls away. J. Smith a nifty final half and finishes with 22 pts(7x15fg, 4x8 3s), 4 assts.

Two other 20 point Dragons -- K. McMahon 21(9x11fg), 5 rebs; B. Manning 22 pts(7x13fg), 9 rebs. McMahon continues his 60 percent-plus for the season. Benefits from CSt penetration from several sources. McMahon has been a consistent revelation this winter after a so-so past. And L. Herron (10 pts) has been a tremendous addition. And don't underestimate Tommy Span's ability to supply his many hands with sufficient playing minutes.

Cortland unloads from the field at at 33x61 clip, 8x20 3s, 14x18ft and 36-33 board advantage. Still, 17 turnovers above the norm. BS with 21 turnovers, 26x59fg, 4x15 3s, 16x22ft. J. Simmons, obviously the target of a matchup defense, winds up with 18 pts(6x13fg). R. Epps with 19 pts(8x19fg). Buffs led this one 23-17 till Manning lands three from past the arc.

magicman · February 02, 2013, 05:35:10 PM

Updates:

Plattsburgh leads New Paltz 69-63 with 3:!5 to go

Oswego leads fredonia 64-48 late in thee 2nd pperioed

Cortland defeats Buff State 88-72

magicman · February 02, 2013, 05:43:08 PM

Oswego State wins but I couldn't get the final score as there were no live stats and the video has gone blank while i was watching the Plattsburgh game but I'm guessing it was by about 20.

Final score for the Oswego game was 68-50.

Plattsburgh and New Paltz are all tied up as Shareef Taylor hits a big 3 pointer with 39 seconds left.

jdex · February 02, 2013, 05:49:41 PM

Tough one for Magic .....M. Devine connects on trey at 0:04 for 75-72 New Paltz win over Plattsburgh ...

magicman · February 02, 2013, 05:53:50 PM

New Paltz gets a big 3 pointer from Matt Devine with 4 seconds left after a Plattsburgh miss on their possession and the Hawks come from behind and defeat Plattsburgh 75-72. Not a happy camper about the turn of events.

thebear · February 02, 2013, 06:43:44 PM

Quote from: magicman on February 02, 2013, 05:53:50 PM
New Paltz gets a big 3 pointer from Matt Devine with 4 seconds left after a Plattsburgh miss on their possession and the Hawks come from behind and defeat Plattsburgh 75-72. Not a happy camper about the turn of events.

Could well mean a road game for Cards in the Playoffs. Devine is a stud.

magicman · February 02, 2013, 07:30:45 PM

Quote from: thebear on February 02, 2013, 06:43:44 PM
Quote from: magicman on February 02, 2013, 05:53:50 PM
New Paltz gets a big 3 pointer from Matt Devine with 4 seconds left after a Plattsburgh miss on their possession and the Hawks come from behind and defeat Plattsburgh 75-72. Not a happy camper about the turn of events.

Could well mean a road game for Cards in the Playoffs. Devine is a stud.

Go ahead bear, try and make my day worse by giving me THAT to think about.

The teams that would seem most likely to make that a possibility are 2 games behind us and with 5 home games left I think the Cards will finish no lower than 3rd place. Today probably cost us a chance to be the top seed because Cortland is looking better and better to claim that prize. Even if we had run the table, we still needed some help as Cortland held the tiebreaker over us. Now if we run the table, we'll be ok against Geneseo, but will need Cortland to lose not only to Plattsburgh but to Oswego as well. I still think we can get a bye, but unless we stumble badly, third place is the worst we will end up. Even fourth place still keeps us at home for the 1st round. Actually third or fourth might not be too bad because I'd get to see another home game.