MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

Cortland State 80  Geneseo State 69

The Red Dragons come from 16 points down in the 2nd half and outscore Geneseo 23-5 over the last 8 minutes to win this battle for 4th place.

Cortland got a game high 24 points and 7 rebounds from Justin Cooper.
Carrell Joseph had a game high 9 rebounds and 18 points.
Zach Lydon had 15 points and 4 rebounds
James Morales had 13 points and 3 assists
Michael Kelly had 6 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds.


Geneseo got 20 points and 5 rebounds from both Justin Ringen and John Decker. Ringen added 4 assists and Decker had 2 steals and 1 assist.
Tommy Eastman had 10 points and 3 assists off the bench.
Jack Eisenberg had 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

In the battle of 3 point shooting from the 2 conference leaders the Red Dragons 13x31 (41.9%) managed to edge the Knights 11x32 (34.4%).

Cortland improves to 12-6 overall and 7-4 in the conference. They are tied with Oneonta for 3rd place but Oneonta with 2 victories over Cortland holds the tiebreaker so essentially they are a game up. Cortland will host Brockport tomorrow at 2:00 PM.

Geneseo drops to 12-7 overall and 7-5 in the YAC. They now hold down 5th place and will face Oswego State tomorrow at 2:00 PM   

[magicman]

Oswego State 78  Brockport State 75

Another battle royal between these two teams that once again comes down to the final seconds. Brockport battles back from a 16 point deficit with 8 minutes to go to make it a 1 possession game with 1:14 to play. Consecutive 3 pointers from Hamed Shamseldin and Matthew Smith bring them within 3 points at 72-69. After Oswego comes up empty on their next trip, Shamseldin gets fouled and makes 1 of 2 to narrow the deficit even further with 20 seconds left. Needing to foul the Eagles send Ian Schupp to the line and he makes them both to extend the Laker lead to 4 points. Brockport hurries down and Shamseldin buries a threeball to make it 74-73 with 12 seconds on the clock. Lakers are fouled and Brian Sortino makes them both. Up by 3 points the Lakers foul and send Devonn Gavin to the line who makes a pair and once again makes it a 1 point game at 76-75. Brockport quickly fouls Sortino who sinks them both with 6 seconds left. The Golden Eagles get a 3 point attempt off at the buzzer that doesn't go down and the Lakers escape with the win and first place in the conference. Round Two in this battle will come on the final day of the regular season when Oswego travels to Brockport. There's a good chance that matchup could determine the top seed for the playoffs.

Oswego after some early back and forth play grabbed the lead and slowly built it to double digits at 23-12 with 9:49 left in the first half. They maintained an 8 to 14 point lead except for a brief moment when the Golden Eagles cut it to 6 points at 42-36 with 15:47 left in the game. The Lakers got an old fashioned 3 point play from Jamir Ferebee and back to back 3 pointers from Ian Schupp to make it 51-36, a 15 point lead once again. They gained their largest lead of the night after Sortino hit a trey and Ferebee and Sortino made a pair of free throws each, to make it 60-44 with 8:07 to go. That set the stage for the Brockport surge to get back into the game and try to pull out a win, only to come up short.

The Lakers
Brian Sortino captured scoring honors with 24 points (5x11 fg, 4x8 3's, 10x10 ft) and 3 assists.
Jamie Ferebee had 18 points (6x13 fg, 1x1 3's, 5x5 ft) and 8 rebounds.
Ian Shupp had 17 points (6x14 fg, 3x7 3's, 2x2 ft), 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 rebounds.
Tyler Pierre came off the bench and had a game high 10 rebounds. He just missed a double-double with 9 points.
Mykelle Krecko had 6 points 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

The Golden Eagles
Devonn Gavin came off the bench to lead the Eagles with 18 points (4x13 fg, 3x9 3's, 7x10 ft). He added 6 rebounds 2 assists and a steal.
Hamed Shamseldin had 16 points (6x13 fg, 3x6 3's, 1x3 ft), 3 assists and 2 steals.
Clifton Lyerly had 12 points (5x10 fg, 0x1 3's, 2x4 ft), 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Cordell Torres added 10 points and 3 rebounds
Marcus Blythers had a team high 9 rebounds and 6 points
Matthew Smith had 9 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 rebounds, and a block.
David Clark had 5 rebounds and 4 points in 12 minutes off the bench.

The Lakers outshot Brockport in all 3 categories and won the rebounding battle by a 39-35 margin. The Golden Eagles defensive pressure did create more turnovers as the Lakers had 14 to just 8 for Brockport. The most telling stat and the reason the Lakers won this one was their accuracy from the line. They were 27x31 (87.1%) while Port was only 18x30 (60%). In the final 10 minutes of the game the Lakers were 18x20 from the line. Brockport was 8x13.

Oswego improves to 14-4 overall and 10-1 in the conference. They have sole possession of first place and will face Geneseo on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM.

Brockport falls to 15-4 overall and 10-2 in the YAC. They will travel down to Cortland for a 2:00 PM tipoff on Saturday afternoon.             

[magicman]

Potsdam State 73 New Paltz State 68

I came close to nailing this one as I had the Bears winning by a 75-69 final score.

Potsdam spotted the Hawks a 3-0 lead but went in front 5-3 and never trailed after that. They gradually built a 9 point lead at 27-18 with 8:15 to go in the first half but the Hawks scored 9 straight points to tie the game for the only time, with 6:15 left in the period. Back came the Bears with a 17-2 run, led by 6 points from Kevin Baksh. Potsdam headed to the break with a 45-31 advantage.

The teams traded baskets through the early stages of the final period, but the Bears after a Nosa Onabor 3 pointer and a layup from Jayquan Thomas grabbed their largest lead of the night at 57-41 with 13:17 left to play. The Hawks were still down by 15 when they fought their way back into contention, by exploding for a 21-7 run that brought them within a single point at 67-66. They made 5 triples in that stretch, 3 from Dylan Balducci and a pair from Nick Paquette. There was 4:51 left to play and it looked like the Bears might let another one get away. Up by two points, after a Nosa Onabor free throw, the Bears got 2 scores from Jayquan Thomas, while the Hawks came up empty in 4 consecutive possessions. Now trailing by 6 points, New Paltz finally got a basket from Balducci with 45 seconds left. Down by 2 possessions the Hawks chose not to foul (not sure why they chose that strategy) and the Bears ticked 28 seconds off the clock and missed from the field with 18 seconds left. The Hawks then took 10 seconds off the clock and called time out with 8 seconds to play. (strange move..again you're down two possessions... time is of the essence here). They inbound the ball fire up a three and miss. They foul the Bears but it's only the 6th team foul so they have to foul them again and now there's one second left. The Bears make the first and miss the second to end the game.

Potsdam shot the ball from the field slightly better than the Hawks as they were 28x62 (45.2%) The Hawks were 26x59 (44.1%). Potsdam gained an advantage from long distance as they made 12x34 (35.3%) to 7x19 for New Paltz (36.8%) That was the telling statistic of the game. The Bears were 5x8 from the line and the Hawks were 9x10. The officials kept their whistles in their pockets for the most part and only called a total of 21 fouls in the game. In other words they let em play. My kind of officials!!  Potsdam had 10 turnovers, New Paltz had 11. The Bears were outrebounded by the Hawks 37-33.

The Bears
Jayquan Thomas was the high man for the Bears with 17 points (8x13 fg, 1x1 ft), 4 rebounds ,3 assists, and 3 steals.
Serigne Kane had 13 points (5x11 fg, 2x5 3's, 1x2 ft) and just missed a double-double with a team high 9 rebounds.
Danny Delsol-Lowry also had 13 points (5x7 fg, 3x5 3's) with 3 assists and 2 rebounds.
Nosa Onabor had 9 points, 7 rebounds 1 assist, and a block in 18 minutes off the bench.
Dante Langley had 7 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and a block.
Aaron Armstrong had 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
Kevin Baksh had 6 points, 4 assists, and 1 rebound in 13 minutes off the bench.

The Hawks
Dylan Balducci was the game's high scorer with 18 points (7x14 fg, 4x9 3's), 4 rebounds and 1 assist.
James Saunders had 10 points (4x5 fg, 0x1 3's, 2x2 ft) and 3 rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.
Andrew Seniuk had a game high 10 rebounds, along with 8 points, 1 assist and a block.
Corey Garcia had 10 assists and 6 points.
Nick Arthur had 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 assist.

Potsdam improves to 2-16 and gets Coach Jim Bechtel his first conference win as a SUNYAC coach. I think it will be the first of many to come. The Bears try and put together a winning streak as they face Oneonta on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM.

New Paltz falls to 1-16 (0-11) and will travel over to Plattsburgh to face the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM       

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State 87 Oneonta State 82

I was treated to another great game tonight in Memorial Hall, as the Cardinals managed to hold off the Red Dragons and get the win, to keep alive their hopes of making the conference playoffs. I had the Cardinals winning this one by 3 points but a meaningless foul with 6 tenths of a second left sent the Cards to the line for two free throws that made the final margin 5 points.

This was a game that featured 12 ties and 14 lead changes as both teams responded whenever the other team seemed to have the upper hand. The first part of the opening period had early back and forth play until the Red Dragons forged in front with a 5 point lead at 15-10. Eight points from Lawrence Coleman powered Oneonta but then Jon Patron got in the act for the Cardinals with back to back inside moves to cut the gap to a single point. Red Dragon Frankie Kelly had 2 drives to the hoop and Oneonta got a three pointer from Coleman to put them back in front 22-16. Back came Plattsburgh with 2 baskets from Brandon Howard and another layup by Patron to tie the score at 24 with 8:24 left to play in the half. A basket by the Cardinals' Adam Jacquish gave Plattsburgh the lead, briefly, but a layup by Mikey McElroy and 5 straight points from Kevin Mackin offset a pair of free throws from Plattsburgh's Isaiah Hill to put the Red Dragons back in front, 31-28. Patron put Plattsburgh ahead once more with 4 straight points but Oneonta took the lead on another 3 pointer by Mackin  and held on for a 42-40 halftime advantage.

The 2nd half was more of the same with the teams trading baskets and Oneonta holding on to a slim lead. Twice the Cardinals would tie the score but Oneonta would respond and go back in front. Finally on the 3rd attempt, Plattsburgh, down 51-49 put together an 11-2 run and opened up the largest lead of the game to that point at 60-53. 4 points from Patron, 4 points from Chris Middleton and a 3 pointer from Eli Bryant powered the run. Back came the Red Dragons in a hurry with 8 unanswered points to recapture the lead at 61-60 with 12:37 to play. Oneonta's big 3 were front and center in the run as Coleman started it with a pair of free throws. After a Cardinal turnover, Kelly threw an alley oop pass to Coleman and then another one to McElroy, before driving to the basket himself and scoring the go ahead bucket. Two more lead changes and a tie would take place when Plattsburgh, down 67-66, scored 9 straight points to open up the largest lead of the game at 75-67 with 6 minutes to go. It was the definitive moment of the game and one in which the Red Dragons would not be able to recover from. They got as close as 83-82 with 13 seconds left but had to foul and the Cardinals went 4x4 from the line to close them out. Patron scored 9 of the Cardinals final 12 points with 3 field goals and 3 free throws.   

Plattsburgh was 34x70 from the field (48.6%). Oneonta was 33x64 (51.6%). Plattsbugh was only 4x17 from long range (23.5%) to 8x24 (33.3%) for Oneonta. The Cardinals went 15x20 from the stripe (75%) to 8x11(72.7%) for Oneonta. Both teams only had 8 turnovers each and Plattsburgh had 42 rebounds to 31 for the Red Dragons. 18 of the Cardinals rebounds were on the offensive end and Plattsburgh got 26 2nd chance points. Probably the difference maker in the game.

This was the first encounter between Coach Curle and his former assistant now at Oneonta, Coach Conover. I hope it's the first of many more.

I also got to say goodbye to 3 of Oneonta's finest. Mikey McElroy, Frankie Kelly and Lawrence Coleman paid their last visit to Memorial Hall. These 3 guys have been outstanding players for Oneonta over the course of their college careers. McElroy will leave Oneonta as the all time leading scorer in school history as he broke Zack Mager's record of 1455 points two weeks ago on January 14th. With the 22 points he scored in Friday's game against Plattsburgh he now has totaled 1554 points in a Red Dragon uniform. Not to shabby!!  Lawrence Coleman eclipsed the 1000 career points mark last week in a game against Buffalo State. He has now scored 1042 points at Oneonta. The third member of the Big Three, Frankie Kelly is rapidly closing in on 1000 career points as well. He now has 932 points and has 7 regular season games plus the playoffs to get the remaining 68 points he needs. Good Luck Frankie. I know you'll make it. My crystal ball told me that you would.

The Cardinals
Jon Patron had a monster game as he captured both scoring honors and rebounding honors with his 33 points (13x27 fg, 0x4 3's, 7x9 ft) and 15 rebounds. It was his 5th double-double of the season.
Eli Bryant had 16 points (6x12 fg, 3x6 3's, 1x2 ft), 4 assists, 3 rebounds and a block.
Chris Middleton had 15 points (6x7 fg, 1x2 3's, 2x3 ft)
Ian Howard had 5 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a block in 16 minutes of court time.
Zack Coleman had 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 big free throws with 11 seconds left that made the Cardinal faithful breathe a little easier.   

The Red Dragons
Mikey McElroy had 22 points (9x18 fg, 2x6 3's, 2x2 ft), 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a block.
Frankie Kelly had 20 points (9x11 fg, 2x3 3's, 0x2 ft), and got a double-double with 10 assists. He also had 6 rebounds.
Lawrence Coleman had 28 points (6x9 fg, 1x1 3's, 6x7 ft), a team high 8 rebounds, and 2 steals.
Kevin Mackin had 10 points in 19 minutes off the bench.
Jack Kolosky had 6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists and 2 steals.

The Cardinals improve to 9-9 overall and 5-7 in the conference. They are now a game out of the 6th and final playoff spot. They will host New Paltz today at 2:00 PM.

Oneonta slips to 10-8 overall and 7-4 in the YAC. They are tied with Cortland but are in sole possession of 3rd place by virtue of their 2 wins over those Red Dragons. They travel over to Potsdam today to take on the Bears at 2:00 PM.             

[magicman]

Jan. 28     All ten teams in action today in five conference games

Not much time so these will be quick picks. I hate these early tipoff times.   

Geneseo State  at  Oswego State        2:00 PM[/b]

I thought Geneseo would go 1-1 on their road trip this weekend with the win coming on Friday against Cortland. Lakers are 4-2 in the last 6 games against the Knights and the oddsmakers have made them a 2 point favorite. I'm going with the Lakers in this one by an 82-77 final score.


Brockport State  at  Cortland State        2:00 PM

The Golden Eagles are favored here by a single point. They have to be angry after falling out of first place and  I think they take it out on the Red Dragons. It should be a close game but I'm going with Brockport by an 89-83 final score.   


Oneonta State  at  Potsdam   State     2:00 PM

Will the Bears start a winning streak after getting their first conference win yesterday? The answer to that question would be...no they won't. Not this year and not against this team. Oneonta doesn't want to make that long bus ride home with an 0-2 to show for the weekend. The point spread favors the Red Dragons by a 15 point margin. The Bears team I saw on Tuesday that put up 100 points would cover that spread but I'm not sure they can do that again. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they will...barely. Oneonta 90 Potsdam 76.   

   
New Paltz State  at  Plattsburgh State        2:00 PM

The Hawks are hungry for a win but the Cardinals are fighting for a playoff spot. The Cards are 8-2 over the last 5 years and won both meetings last year. The oddsmakers have made Plattsburgh a 22 point favorite. That seems like a lot and the Cardinals have only won by that margin just once all year. Then again they haven't played any other 1 win teams. The Hawks beat Springfield College in Springfield for their 1 win and Springfield beat Amherst College, when that team, formerly known as the Lord Jeffs, was the #1 team in the country. Can you see where I'm going here?  I don't see any upset here but they could cover the spread. Plattsburgh 94 New Paltz 74.


Buffalo State  at  Fredonia State        4:00 PM

The plain and simple fact here is...the Bengals can't afford to lose this game. Holding down the 6th and final playoff spot with Plattsburgh breathing down their neck is not a comfortable feeling but at least they have the benefit of a 1 game lead. They control their own destiny. Keep winning and they'll be fine. Plattsburgh needs help to achieve a playoff berth. The Blue Devils are also in the mix as they are currently tied with Plattsburgh and can't be counted out...especially if they can pull off the upset today over the Bengals. The big question is will Ian Helps play or is he out once again. I heard that he may be out and if so the Bengals task today got a lot easier. He's the one guy that Fredonia needs in their lineup.  The odddsmakers have made the Bengals a 10 point choice. Last year the teams split but the Bengals are 9-1 over the last 5 years. Without Helps to worry about, they'll win by 20. Buffalo State 95 Fredonia 75   

[All-Time]

Full slate of games this afternoon:

Oswego over Geneseo. Brian Sortino and gang are getting ready for the playoffs. They seem to get better and better with each game.

Brockport all over Cortland.

Buffalo State all over Fredonia.

Plattsburgh is starting to play they way we all expected. The Magicman's Magic Wand is finally starting to work. He also doesn't hurt that Jon Patron has come to life.
Plattsburgh all over New Paltz. I honestly think they will make the playoffs.

Oneonta all over Potsdam. Potsdam has to finally feel good getting their first win last night. But the Big 3 of McElroy, Coleman, Kelly and throw in Kolosky and the Red Dragons hold onto 3rd place in the standings.

Things are certainly getting interesting in the middle of the pack. You Gotta love the SUNYAC

Enjoy the Games

[Bengalsrule]

Fwiw. Buffalo State vs Fredonia tip off is at 4pm...not 5:30!

[All-Time]

Very tough weekend for Brockport and Geneseo
Great weekend for Cortland and Plattsburgh

It looked like the Golden Eagles were unbeatable early on. But this is the SUNYAC and things always seem to get a little crazy this time of year.
They have Geneseo next who beat them up pretty good the last time they played them.

It starting to really tighten up in the standings after Oswego. The last portion of the season will separate the boys from the Men.
Can't wait.

[magicman]

Fwiw. Buffalo State vs Fredonia tip off is at 4pm...not 5:30!

I guess you didn't see which time I had posted as the starting time for the Buffalo State game in my post up above. I even sent D3hoops a note on Thursday to tell them about the correct tipoff time but they were probably busy doing other things and didn't read the note.

Edit:  It's 5:11 PM and I just went to the D3hoops scoreboard. They are showing a score of Buffalo State 60 Fredonia 42 with 14:39 left to play in the game. Apparently they did get my message and made the change.   

[magicman]

Cortland State 77 Brockport 70

[magicman]

Oneonta State 97 Potsdam State 71

[magicman]

Oswego State 81  Geneseo State 70

[magicman]

Buffalo State 83 Fredonia 75.

[Bengalsrule]

Fwiw. Buffalo State vs Fredonia tip off is at 4pm...not 5:30!

I guess you didn't see which time I had posted as the starting time for the Buffalo State game in my post up above. I even sent D3hoops a note on Thursday to tell them about the correct tipoff time but they were probably busy doing other things and didn't read the note.

Edit:  It's 5:11 PM and I just went to the D3hoops scoreboard. They are showing a score of Buffalo State 60 Fredonia 42 with 14:39 left to play in the game. Apparently they did get my message and made the change.   

I was making the time reference because the SUNYAC site had a 5:30 tipoff!

[magicman]

Fwiw. Buffalo State vs Fredonia tip off is at 4pm...not 5:30!

I guess you didn't see which time I had posted as the starting time for the Buffalo State game in my post up above. I even sent D3hoops a note on Thursday to tell them about the correct tipoff time but they were probably busy doing other things and didn't read the note.

Edit:  It's 5:11 PM and I just went to the D3hoops scoreboard. They are showing a score of Buffalo State 60 Fredonia 42 with 14:39 left to play in the game. Apparently they did get my message and made the change.   

I was making the time reference because the SUNYAC site had a 5:30 tipoff!

I don't think anybody on these boards other than you, or maybe Fran, check for game times on the SUNYAC board. Most everyone just goes to the D3hoops scoreboard or the D3hoops team pages.