MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[jdex]

Cortland 70, Plattsburgh 58
Oswego 63, Potsdam 51
Buffalo St. 63, New Paltz 62
SUNYIT 69, Oneonta 66
St. John Fisher 94, Brockport 78

[jdex]

Cortland's  F. Ranieri nets 24 pts (1,014 career), 12 rebs, 4 assts; R. Headley 11 pts, 4 assts; D. Maggiacomo 11 pts; S.
Taggart 6 rebs. Dragons' 11th in a row. Best start (11-1) since 1963-64 Dave Bleau era

Oswego carries early big stick -- 42-22 at half. Lakers 19x54fg to Pdam's 21x60. Road woes continue for Bears, just 1x9 3s. E. Barton 24 pts(8x15fg), 17 rebs, 5 stls in 38' for Pdam. Oswego's M. Burridge 18 pts, 15 rebs; spare K. Reuter 11 pts. Lakers get it done without usual big night from N. Perioli (1x4fg) 2 pts, 2 assts in 37'. E. Roberson off bench for 9 pts in 19'. Mims also in check

Buffalo State holds on behind G. Jones 20 pts(6x16fg), 3x8 3s; D. Mozelle 14 pts (6x8fg), 15 rebs; D. Griggs 14 pts(7x12fg), 11 rebs. BS ahead 36-31 at intermission, hike lead to 12. NP in late bolt and misses at buzzer. B. Kaible 17 pts(6x10fg, 5x9 3s) for Hawks; J. Hauser 11 pts, 7 rebs, 5 assts; M. Irwin 10 pts.  BS 24x55fg, 23 TVers and 43-31 reb edge. NP 25x58fg (9x25 3s).
BS without 21ppg J. Williams. No longer on roster

Brockport stays with Fisher most of the way. Down 47-43 at half and within 76-72 at 7:18. SJF with 31-44 reb. advantage and shoots steady 37x73fg. Bport 25x58(4x18 3s). J. Cheves 19 pts(6x16fg), 5 reb; B. Bellucci 18 pts(8x13fg), 8 reb in 37'; J. Rother 18 pts(6x10fg), 3 blks in just 24' (3pf).
Bport faces RobtsWesleyan in Saturday Chase consi

Geneseo up against Keuka in another Chase consi on Saturday

[bearseh]

Back from Oswego. Laker Hall is a great venue and restaurants are outdtanding! The game, on the other hand...

Oswego looks great in the first half. Solid defense, superb transition game. Potsdam looks as inexperienced as they are, never get back on D, and can't handle Burridge inside. 2nd half - Potsdam's Barton puts on all-league performance (see jdex stats above), shuts down Burridge, and the rest of the Lakers, except Reuter disappear. Broderick smashes clipboard to pieces nearly blinding a fan in the third row. Best sit high if behind the Laker bench.

Lakers margin of victory is at the line - no surprise when playing there, eh. Lakers with 18 more opportunities than Potsdam. Note - only 7 more PFs blown on the Bears, but as we know, its not how many the Z's whistle - but when - that controls a game.

Worth the trip to see Burridge (1st half) and Barton (2nd half) and post-game pasta. Disappointments: Both point guards. More experienced Perioli smart enough to not force much when A-game isn't there. Beisesi could learn a lot from him.

Hold Your Nose Stat of the Night: Potsdam with a total of 3 assists.

[jdex]

Cortland 69, Potsdam 60
Fredonia 70, New Paltz 67
Plattsburgh 75, Ithaca 68
Robts Wesleyan 91, Brockport 85
Geneseo 85, Keuka 71
Tonight: SUNYIC at Oswego

[jdex]

Cortland grabs 12th straight with 69-60 win at Potsdam. Dragons hit half of 26 shots in first half for 32-25 lead. Bears 9x26fg in opening period and wind up 23x53 and 9x19 3s. Corts (23x50fg, 6x14 3s) have five in double figures: F. Ranieri 13 (5x7fg), 3 assts; S. Taggard 13 (6x8fg), 8 rebs; D. Maggiacomo 13 (3x4 3s and 3x3 1st half); S. Skrelja 11 pts (4x7fg); D. Jutton 10 pts; E. Nalls 4 assts in 19'. E. Barton paces host Bears with 16 pts(6x15fg), 13 reb, 6 TVers. D. Bisesi 13 pts(3x5 3s); E. Ducena 12pts (4x8 3s)

Fredonia up 27-24 at half. M. Kelly 12 pts(4x8 3s); K. Gordon 11 pts(5x8fg); T. Alassari 11 pts, 5 assts. NP gets 15 pts(3x5 3s), 6 assts, 2 stls from M. Irwin; B. Kaible 13 pts, J. Hauser 11 pts, K. Critchlow 5 rebs

Plattsburgh at home sees 25-12 lead gone by half (36-36). IC up by four at 5' before Platts reversal keyed by Gibbs-Smith and T. Gorham. Pburgh 23x46fg but 25x35ft (IC 9x13ft). Gorham 18 pts (5x9fg), 13 rebs; A. Williams 18 pts (7x10fg), 8 TVers in 40'; Gibbs-Smith 18 pts(5x8fg) in 27' bench role. Cards end five game IC win streak.

Brockport finishes fourth in Chase tourney. RW in 51-44 halftime lead but trails Eagles 78-77 before fast finish. RW 46-35 board edge. B. Bellucci 19 pts(7x10fg), 7 reb, 3 assts; J. Cheves 19 pts(5x9 3s); J. Rothers 12 pts(4x11fg), 4 blks; M. Wilkes 10 pts(2x4 3s); J. Zenkel 4 assts. RW 11-8

Geneseo finishes fifth in Chase. G. Spears 23 pts(11x17fg), 7 rebs; T. Kitson 16 pts(6x8fg); N. Kelly 14 pts(4x8 3s), 5 assts of team's 25; S. McDonnell 12 pts(4x7fg). Ahead 43-35 at half and hit 8x17 3s for game

[bamm]

Cortland should get some top 25 consideration.  Their only loss is by one point to a respectable Trinity (Conn) squad, who beat #8 Amherst today.

[bearseh]

bamm - I admire your optimisim re: top 25 consideration for Cortland. Much has been written about their 1 "quality loss". What's missing are quality wins, and they won't get them in the SUNYAC this year. Top to bottom the league, sadly,  will not generate the strength of schedule needed for a top 25 rating.

[bamm]

bearseh -- I pretty much posted the same opinion in the Top 25 board regarding the strength (or lack of) in the SUNYAC.  Regardless, a consecutive win streak (12 and counting) compared to only one loss on the season at some point becomes hard to ignore.  The situation may end up like Fisher last year:  piling up wins against average teams (maybe a couple decent teams, but no big wins) will move you into the top 25, but not without a fair amount of skeptics.

[thebear]

I was at the game, and Cortland is a good team. 

But they don't have the one player that makes them special.  I agree they may get top 25 votes because of a gaudy record, but I still think the SUNYAC is an any given team can beat any other league.

Props to Cortland for going 2-0 on the dreaded North Country swing however.  Not done very often.

By the way, Edane Barton averaged 20 points and !!15!! rebounds in the weekend losses to arguably the top two teams in the SUNYAC!

For those who care, the temperature drop in Potsdam over the last 24 hour is 47 degrees.  0 in the North Woods this morning.

[jdex]

Another blow for SUNYAC strength? SUNYIT over Oswego 88-81 AT Oswego.
Oswegos 42-41 lead at half in what appears to be very even test. C. Laboard 23 pts, 8 rebs and C. Reeves 22 pts, 12 reb, 6 assts for Techsters. A. Mims 21 pts in loss as all five Lakers in double figures. M. Burridge 10 pts.

Sure do agree degree of mediocrity hurting Cortland. Dragons make cover page this week as 'flavor of the week' Corts and Potsdam tied at 45 last night before 13-2 Dragon run featuring big man S. Taggart. F. Ranieri may be closest to go-to guy, but this team has many, many dangerous hands.

Also, of Cortland's first 13 games, 10 have been on the road. Corts go to Utica on Tuesday before launch of finishing kick mostly at their Corey Gym. That's where Platts and Oswegos visit next weekend.
And as we said, opening loss to Trinity, Ct. in tourney game may have been Dragons' finest moment to date (which is certainly saying something about SUNYAC this winter). Cortland led most of the way and we believe the entire second half until closing seconds -- and dastardly trey+ft. Trinity 10-3 after ambushing highly ranked and at-home Amherst last night

[bearseh]

What's happening to Oswego in the 2nd half? Horrible 2nd half at home v. Potsdam. I didn't see the IT game but numbers suggest another let down. 

Hey bear, is Doc Smith still in shorts? Or is it really cold?

[Maxcy Maniac]

Doc Smith....still in shorts.

[thebear]

bearseh

IMHO, Perioli is having to play nearly 40 per game.  No quality backup to run the point.  These three game weeks are going to take a toll.

SUNYIT is athletic, but you can't underestimate what Murphy brings to the bench.  He know what to do when the game is on the line, and as long as he has enough talent to compete, he'll win more than his share.

5 below with wind chill in the -20 range.  Just another normal Janaury Day in Potsdam.  I suspect Doc Smith will still be in Shorts.

Props to the memory of Dr. ML King today.

[jdex]

Cortland 76, SUNYIT 70
Oswego 93, Buffalo St. 75
Brockport 83, New Paltz 66
Oneonta at Plattsburgh, ppd. to Wed
Potsdam 75, St. Lawrence 68
Geneseo 79, Elmira 40

[Maxcy Maniac]

Dispite not playing the first half Edane Barton led the Bears over St. Lawernce with 27 points in 16min.  Who can match up with Edane?