Utica, NY – The Brockport men's basketball team won its second game in a row on Tuesday night, taking down Utica, 70-68, in conference play. The Golden Eagles pulled out a tight victory on the road to move to 3-6 overall and 1-0 in the Empire 8.
Tony Arnold delivered down the stretch on his way to his third double-double of the season. Arnold finished with 18 points, 10 boards, four assists, two steals, and one block. Following this performance, he has per game averages of 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3.0 steals (all team-highs).
Mekhi Beckett led the team in scoring for the second game in a row, totaling 20 points (8-15 FG, 4-6 3PT) in the win.
Nathaniel Gordon remains hot with double-digits for third straight outing, pouring in 10 points to go with five rebounds.
The jump shots were falling early for the Green and Gold in out central New York. Gordon and Beckett both hit shots early to give the squad a 10-4 lead. However, the Pioneers quickly answered and had the game tied at 17-17. With the two teams trading blows the rest of the way, a late score from Beckett gave Brockport a 32-31 halftime edge.
The Golden Eagles came out strong to start the second half. They quickly surged forward to create a 9-point lead at 45-36, the largest lead of the game so far. Utica then went on a 15-2 run to take its own lead in the second half.
With 7:24 remaining in regulation, Brockport faced a 55-51 deficit on the road in its first ever Empire 8 contest.
Tony Arnold then went on to score 11 points in the final minutes of the contest to help recapture the lead heading into crunch time.
In the final minute,
Mekhi Beckett nailed a clutch 3-pointer to go with makes at the foul line from Arnold and
Jacob Oka. Utica had one last shot to tie the game at the buzzer, but Brockport held on for the 2-point victory.
The road trip continues this weekend for the Golden Eagles as they continue the early Empire 8 schedule. They head to Hartwick on Friday (7:30pm) and then will face Russell Sage on Saturday (4pm).
