BOXSCORE                        PHOTO GALLERY

A balanced College at Brockport men's basketball squad started fast and held on to defeat fifth-seeded Oneonta 84-75 Tuesday night in a first-round State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) playoff game inside the Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium.

All five of Brockport's (14-12) starters scored in double-figures, led by junior Gerald Williams (Rochester, NY/Charlotte), who scored a game-high 21 points on 7 of 12 shooting.

Junior Kyheem Green (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) and freshman Jon Ivy (Rochester, NY/East) each added 17 points while sophomore Derek Klein (Valley Stream, NY/Long Island Lutheran) chipped in 12 points and senior Zach McTigue (East Aurora, NY/East Aurora) added 11 points and 10 rebounds for No. 4 Brockport.

The Golden Eagles advance in the SUNYAC tournament and will face top-seeded Oswego (23-3) in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Friday night at Oswego. Oswego defeated No. 8 Potsdam 64-50 to advance into the semifinals.

The Lakers swept the season-series with Brockport, winning 74-71 at Brockport on Jan. 22, and again 69-61 at Oswego on Feb. 18.

“We know we can beat any team that we play, so we just have to keep the intensity and focus that we came out with tonight,” McTigue said after his second double-double of the year.

“We know every night we're the better team that's out there, we just have to put it together. They beat us twice, so we owe them one so hopefully we bring it.”

All five Brockport starters made at least 50 percent of their shots from the field as the Golden Eagles shot 32 of 60 (53 percent) for the game. Williams was one of three Golden Eagles who made at least seven field goals. Williams and Green were 7 of 12 apiece while Ivy made 7 of his 11 shots against the Red Dragons (9-17).

Four different players scored in the early going for the Golden Eagles, who started the game on a 9-0 run, highlighted by a dunk from Green to start the scoring.

“We knew how important this game was tonight, so we all came out and played together as a team and got the win,” said Green, who missed nearly all of the second half of Brockport's 76-68 loss at Oneonta Feb. 12.

“It feels great to get this first win, we're just going to take it one game at a time, come out strong and focused each game. Hopefully we can win SUNYAC's and make the NCAA Tournament.”

Brockport led by as many as 14 in the first half, 20-6 when McTigue drained a jumper from the elbow with 13:56 remaining in the half. McTigue scored all 11 of his points in the first half as the Golden Eagles led 43-32 at halftime.

“It's great playing behind guys like Kyheem and Gerald, I don't get a lot of attention on the offensive end so I get left open a lot,” said McTigue, who had four offensive rebounds to go with six defensive boards.

“Tonight I got my layups to go and hopefully I can keep this going. Once I get going I can hit a few, but I've been streaky all year. My shot felt good tonight, I got a couple to fall and I was a big help.”

Brockport came out with some fireworks to start the second half. Dunk threw down two dunks, including one on an alley-oop from Klein, within the first 40 seconds of the half.

“When somebody dunks, the other team usually puts their heads down, and that can definitely get the momentum going for us, especially at home,” Green said.

Williams scored 12 second-half points while Ivy added 11 after halftime for Brockport, which had 10 steals to Oneonta's three.

Oneonta managed to stay close and used a 15-4 run to pull within 51-49 with 14:41 remaining.

That's when Klein answered back with a '3', Green and sophomore Stephen Sisson (Ballston Spa, NY/Saratoga Springs) each made a pair of free throws and Williams added a layup as Brockport responded with a 9-2 run to take a 60-51 lead.

Oneonta cut the Brockport lead to four points twice down the stretch and trailed only 70-66 with 6:05 remaining, but Williams scored seven of Brockport's next eight points, including a three-point play, and the Golden Eagles hung on for the win.

Brockport is back in the SUNYAC semifinals for the fourth consecutive year, and ninth time in the last 11 years. Brockport last won SUNYAC's in the 2008-09 season, when the Golden Eagles defeated Fredonia 64-59 in the championship game.