Junior Marissa Pike (Burdett, NY/Watkins Glen) led the Golden Eagles with 18 points as they fell to Buffalo State 78-61 in their first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest of the season Tuesday night in Buffalo.

The Golden Eagles quickly took a 5-0 lead less than two minutes into the game as Pike and sophomore Hannah Rehbaum (Cheektowaga, NY/Sacred Heart) were aggressive from the start.  Brockport found itself in a five point deficit as Buffalo State went on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes.

Sophomore Faith Welch (Albany, NY/Catholic Central) ignited a spark in the Golden Eagle offense as she was 3-for-6 from behind the arc and led the team in scoring with 11 points in the first half.  The Bengals took a 34-31 lead into halftime.

Brockport used a 6-0 run to notch the game at 40 apiece with 16 minutes remaining in the second half. Pike started the rally with a three-pointer. Junior Erin Cunningham (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro) followed the three, with a layup and Pike made one-of-two free throws to tie the game.

Buffalo went on a 21-9 run for the next ten minutes of play to take a commanding 61-49 lead. With 4 minutes left in the game, Rehbaum cut the deficit to five points with a jump shot and a layup that were 30 seconds apart.  Rehbaum finished with 12 points off of five field goals and two free throws.

Brockport held Buffalo to 37.8% shooting from the floor but was outscored 21-7 in second chance points. The Golden Eagles were outrebounded 56-36 in the game.

Welch led the offense with six assists.  Cunningham was 3-for-5 in field goals while freshman Alyssa Rusinko (Fairport, NY/Fairport) was perfect from the line shooting 4-for-4.  On defense Pike had three steals and ten defensive rebounds.

Brockport travels to New Paltz on Friday for another SUNYAC game at 7:30 pm and against Oneonta on Saturday at 4 pm.