Jan 08, 2011
The College at Brockport's men's basketball team limited a potent Plattsburgh squad well below its scoring average and the Golden Eagles knocked off the defending State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) champions 75-65 Saturday afternoon inside Plattsburgh's Memorial Hall.
Junior Gerald Williams (Rochester, NY/Charlotte) drained his first two '3's' to give the Golden Eagles a 12-6 lead and finished with 13 points, one of four Golden Eagles in double-figures.
Junior Kyheem Green (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) scored a team-high 18 points and snared a game-high 12 rebounds and senior Francisco Lantigua (Jamestown, NY/Jamestown) added a season-high 16 points as the Golden Eagles (4-6 overall, 2-1 SUNYAC) handed No. 22 Plattsburgh (7-4 overall, 3-1 SUNYAC) its first conference loss.
"This is something that we really need to build on," said Greg Dunne, Brockport's head coach.
"Coming off last night's (74-60) loss to Potsdam, we really needed this win, and it's a huge boost going into the stretch run of the conference. Over the last 10 years, Brockport and Plattsburgh have been the two premier programs in the SUNYAC … this is a huge rivalry game for us ... Traditionally, they beat us at their place, so to get a road win like this is huge."
"Coming off last night's (74-60) loss to Potsdam, we really needed this win, and it's a huge boost going into the stretch run of the conference. Over the last 10 years, Brockport and Plattsburgh have been the two premier programs in the SUNYAC … this is a huge rivalry game for us ... Traditionally, they beat us at their place, so to get a road win like this is huge."
Brockport held Plattsburgh, which entered as the third-highest scoring offense in the SUNYAC at 77.7 points per game, scoreless through the first three minutes, 23 seconds. Sophomore Derek Klein (Valley Stream, NY/Lutheran Long Island) added a '3' as Brockport hit its first three attempts from beyond the arc to take a 15-8 lead through the first six minutes.
Lantigua added back-to-back baskets as the Golden Eagles took a 19-10 lead. However, a 14-1 Plattsburgh run gave the Cardinals a 24-20 lead.
Lantigua continued his hot shooting, hitting a layup and draining a three-pointer, which, combined with a '3' from senior Greg Schiefen (Corning, NY/Elmira Notre Dame), pulled the Golden Eagles even at 28-all. Lantigua led all Brockport scorers with nine first-half points.
The Golden Eagles defense did a good job limiting Plattsburgh's offense in the first half. Brockport held Plattsburgh to just 30 first-half points.
Lantigua continued his scoring touch in the second half, converting a three-point play, and on the ensuing possession, Williams drilled his third trey to pull Brockport within two, 38-36. When Green collected an offensive rebound and converted the putback, Brockport was only down one, 43-42 with 12:08 remaining. Following a Plattsburgh free throw, Lantigua hit a layup to tie it at 44-all. After Plattsburgh converted three free throws, Schiefen drained another '3' to tie the score once again, this time at 47-all.
"We got 16 points from Francisco off the bench, and he was 6 of 7 from the field and 1 of 1 on three-pointers. He stepped up, and we know he can give us games like that," Dunne said. "We got 26 points from our bench and I don't know if we will lose that many games if we get that kind of production from our bench."
Green's slam dunk basket gave the Golden Eagles their first lead of the second half, 51-50, and freshman Dorian Hayden (East Northport, NY/Northport) pushed the lead to three with a right-handed basket with 8:03 left. After a Plattsburgh basket, Green made an acrobatic play, adjusted in mid-air and hit his layup for a 55-52 lead. A pair of Klein free throws gave Brockport a 57-52 lead, its largest since midway through the first half.
After a Plattsburgh timeout, Kazeem Are (South Orange, NY/Columbia) threw down a big slam dunk off an ally-oop feed from Williams to extend the advantage to seven. Are finished with a season-high 13 points.
After Plattsburgh rattled off a 7-2 run, Green's last slam dunk pushed the Brockport lead to 67-61, and following a Plattsburgh technical foul, Lantigua buried both free throws for a 69-61 edge, and Brockport pulled away for the win.