BOXSCORE
The College at Brockport's men's basketball team was plagued by poor shooting, couldn't overcome foul troubles for junior
Kyheem Green (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman), and the fourth-seeded Golden Eagles fell to No. 2 Buffalo State 67-50 Saturday afternoon in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) championship game at Oswego.
The Golden Eagles trailed by one, 23-22 at halftime, but held a 28-24 lead early in the second half before the Bengals went on a 29-10 run to seize control and claim their conference-leading 12th SUNYAC title.
Freshman Jon Ivy (Rochester, NY/East) led the Golden Eagles (15-13) with 16 points, but the Golden Eagles, a day after shooting 57.1 percent, made just 31 percent of its shots against Buffalo State (21-6).
A win would have given Brockport the SUNYAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III tournament. Now, the Golden Eagles must await word on a possible spot in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament.
Junior
Gerald Williams (Rochester, NY/Charlotte) added 11 points for Brockport. Green, who scored a game-high 22 points in Brockport's semifinal win over top-seeded Oswego, scored just two first-half points, and picked up his fourth foul with 11 minutes left on Saturday. He finished with 11 rebounds, 6 points and four blocked shots.
Sophomore
Stephen Sisson (Ballston Spa, NY/Saratoga Springs) drilled a '3' to pull the Golden Eagles within two, 36-34, with 9:50 remaining before Buffalo State used a 12-4 run to take a 48-38 lead, its largest advantage of the game.
A '3' from Buffalo State's Chris Cartwright pushed the Bengals' lead to 53-38 with 4:32 remaining, and Brockport couldn't pull any closer than 13 points down the stretch.
This was Brockport's eighth appearance in the SUNYAC title game, and second in three years. Brockport was searching for its fifth SUNYAC championship, and first since the 2008-09 season, when the Golden Eagles knocked off Fredonia 64-59.
Williams buried a '3' and with the first-half clock winding down and sophomore
Derek Klein (Valley Stream, NY/Long Island Lutheran) banked in an off-balance '3' right before the buzzer as Brockport trailed 23-22 at intermission. Klein led Brockport with six first-half points while Green was limited to just two points on 1 of 5 shooting.
Ivy and senior
Zack McTigue (East Aurora, NY/East Aurora) converted baskets out of the break as Brockport took a 26-23 lead. A Green tip-in pushed the Golden Eagle lead to four, 28-24 with 16:54 remaining before the Bengals answered with an 8-0 run. Williams snapped the Bengal run with a pair of free throws, and McTigue added a free throw as Brockport trailed 34-31.
Green and Williams each were named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament team for Brockport, which made its 12th straight tournament appearance. Brockport falls to 26-17 all-time in the SUNYAC tournament, including a 4-4 mark in the finals. The Golden Eagles won SUNYAC championships in 1994, 2001, 2002 and 2009.
Brockport ousted Buffalo State from last year's SUNYAC tournament, a 68-67 overtime win in the first round.
