ONEONTA, N.Y. – A strong defensive effort paired with a balanced offensive attack propelled the College at Brockport men's basketball team past Oneonta on Friday night, defeating the Red Dragons 65-56.
 
The Golden Eagles improve to 14-7 on the season and post a 9-5 mark in league play while the Red Dragons fall to 13-9 on the year and 8-7 in conference action.
 
Hamed Shamseldin, who has been plagued with injury, had a strong comeback to lead the Golden Eagles. The sophomore led the Green and Gold offense with 11 points, dishing out a pair of assists. Clifton Lyerly and Levi Pace each turned in nine points apiece, with each also picking up four rebounds. Matthew Smith and Devonn Gavin each netted eight points in the win, with Smith snagging six boards. Patrick Modzelewski and Cordell Torres each scored six points, with Marcus Blythers adding four points and seven rebounds.
 
Head coach Greg Dunne's squad shot 43.3 percent (29-of-67) from the field on the day. The Golden Eagles went to work in the paint, outscoring the Red Dragons by a margin of 40-18. The Green and Gold also got a big lift from their bench, with 34 points to Oneonta's 13, and picked up 22 second chance points.
 
The Golden Eagles found themselves trailing not long after the start of the contest, and were forced to play catch up. A 12-2 run down to the 6:33 mark quickly erased the Brockport deficit, turning it into a Green and Gold advantage of 22-15. The run featured buckets from six different Golden Eagles, as balanced play boded well for the Green and Gold.
 
The hot Brockport offense wasn't finished as the Golden Eagles embarked on another run, this time a 10-0 spurt to give the Green and Gold their largest lead of the half. The run featured a pair of Smith scores, buckets from Mitch Cote and Gavin and a trey from Shamseldin to post a 33-17 lead. Blythers knocked down the final bucket of the half to give the Golden Eagles a 35-22 lead heading into the break.
 
At the midway point, the Golden Eagles were led by Gavin who netted eight points and pulled down three rebounds. Shamseldin added five points, while Torres, Smith, Blythers and Pace all chipped in four.
 
The Golden Eagles shot a blistering 53.1 percent (17-of-32) from the floor while holding their opponents to just 36 percent shooting. Brockport forced 10 Red Dragon turnovers, which they used for 10 points.
 
Brockport saw a red hot Oneonta come out of the locker room, and the once 15 point Green and Gold lead became just one by the 12:21 mark. The Brockport defense worked to hold off the Oneonta charge, and after two scoreless minutes from either team, Olusola Adeniran ended the silence with a big bucket in the paint to help the Golden Eagles to a 45-42 lead.
 
Brockport saw their opponent pull within one possession only once more at the 8:20 mark, before back-to-back scores from Pace and a Lyerly three gave the Golden Eagles a 52-45 cushion.   
 
The Green and Gold defense held strong, coming up big on several possessions down the stretch. An 8-0 run with scores from Modzelewski, Shamseldin and Lyerly helped the Golden Eagles lead grow to double digits with just under a minute to play at 63-53.  The defense continued to come up big as a five second call in favor of the Golden Eagles helped seal the deal, as Brockport wrapped up a 65-56 win.
 
The Golden Eagles will continue their road trip and be back in action tomorrow, Feb. 13 at SUNY New Paltz with a 4 p.m. tip.
 
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