BUFFALO, N.Y. - The College at Brockport defeated Buffalo State in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest Friday evening fighting their way through a Bengals fourth quarter comeback, winning 73-71 while converting the regular season sweep.
Brockport (7-5 Overall, 3-2 SUNYAC) shot a tremendous 50-percent from the floor converting 28-of-56 baskets while holding Buffalo to 36-percent from the court.
The Golden Eagles' offense went cold early on in the fourth quarter when the Bengals quickly closed the gap as Brockport maintained a two possession lead. With three minutes remaining and Brockport clinging to a four point lead Erin Cunningham took the ball from the top of the arc and drove towards the rim. She found an open Hannah Spencer on the wing. Spencer knocked down the jumper to increase the Golden Eagle lead to six.
Cunningham had another big play for Brockport as she converted a layup with two minutes left to push Brockport ahead 67-60. After two Buffalo St free throws, Brockport went back to its old faithful combination of Faith Welch and Olivia Suhr to keep a comfortable lead. Welch assisted Suhr's basket giving Brockport a 69-62 advantage with 49 seconds remaining.
Buffalo made a layup to trim the lead to four points but the Golden Eagles Suhr was steady at the free throw line and converted two clutch free throws pushing Brockport above 70 points. Two free throws from Buffalo brought the game back to single possession as Brockport led 71-69 and the Green and Gold faithful breathed a sigh of relief when Welch drained a pair of her free throws. Buffalo kept pace as they converted both of its free throws but time ran out as Brockport converted a 2015-16 regular season sweep of Buffalo.
Brockport jumped out to 22-14 lead behind the play of Suhr and Welch. Suhr and Welch took turns leading the offense as the tandem would score points in bunches. The pair combined for 17 of Brockport's 22 first quarter points.
The two conference foes played a much tighter contested second quarter, which Buffalo outscored Brockport 16 -15. Suhr and Welch continued to play well while Spencer and Hannah Rehbaum contributed several baskets.
Buffalo came out firing in the second quarter trimming Brockport's lead to a single point. Layups from Spencer and Rehbaum grew the Brockport lead back up to five points. Welch found Spencer for an open three pointer at the five minute mark to give Brockport a 32-26 lead. The Golden Eagles held a 37-30 advantage at halftime.
Following a Bengals triple, Brockport immediately got back into the swing of things with a jumper from Schyler Laux. Three consecutive layups from Suhr increased the Golden Eagle lead to a game-high 12 points. Becky Rossier added to that lead with a lay in of her own before Buffalo found the bottom of the net again. Brockport and Buffalo traded baskets to close out the third quarter as the Golden Eagles outscored the Bengals at a 20-9 clip.
Suhr finished game highs in points and rebounds, scoring 25 points while grabbing 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season and second against Buffalo this year. Welch was also stellar on the night scoring 20 points and tallying a season-high eight assists. Spencer finished with 10 points while Rehbaum contributed eight points and eight rebounds.
Brockport stays in Buffalo for its next SUNYAC game against Fredonia on Saturday at 2 p.m. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Golden Eagles scores and awards by following @BportAthletics on Twitter and by liking the "Brockport Golden Eagles" Facebook page.
