Sophomore Clifton Lyerly (Inwood, NY/Lawrence) scored a game high 26 points for The College at Brockport Men's Basketball team leading to a 78-73 victory over Buffalo State in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament Quarter Final on Tuesday night in the Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium on the campus of Brockport.
Brockport (15-11, 12-7 SUNYAC) advances on to the SUNYAC Semi-Final Round against No. 1 seed Plattsburgh at the Cardinals home court at 7:30 pm on Friday. The Golden Eagles game is preceded by the No. 3 seeded Lakers of Oswego versus No. 2 seeded Knights of Geneseo at 5:30 pm in Plattsburgh. Plattsburgh will also play host to the SUNYAC Championship which is scheduled for 4:00 pm on Saturday.
Lyerly led all scorers with 26 points, helping Brockport pull away from Buffalo late in the second half. With the game tied with 1:33 remaining in the contest, Lyerly made two clutch free throws to give the Golden Eagles a 73-71 lead. Two more gut wrenching free throws from Golden Eagle teammate Matthew Smith (East Northport, NY/Northport) put Brockport ahead by four. Buffalo answered with two free throws of its own but Brockport pulled away closing the game out with the final three points of the game.
In the first half of play Lyerly was explosive and kept the Golden Eagles in the game with a bevy of moves. Lyerly scored 14 of the final 19 points in the first half of play, hitting several jumpers, multiple layups and a pair of free throws. Also shining for Brockport in the first half of play was junior Patrick Modzelewski (Brooklyn, NY/Msgr. McClancy) who hit several big three pointers, scoring 11 points in the opening half.
Lyerly made a jumper with a minute remaining in the first half as sophomore Aaron White (North Tonawanda, NY/Canisius) found him for an open shot. The following Buffalo State possession sophomore Levi Pace (Medina, NY/Medina) elevated high above the floor to reject a Bengals shot attempt before Lyerly pulled in the rebound. Pace's block preserved a 37-37 score going into halftime.
The Golden Eagle defense clamped down and applied an abundant amount of pressure in the second half of play. After allowing the Bengals to shoot 46.9% from the floor, including 50% from beyond the arc in the first half, the Golden Eagles cooled Buffalo's offense. In the second half, Brockport allowed only two three pointers to be made on nine shots from three point range and allowed only 35.3% of the Bengals shots to fall.
Lyerly made 10-of-19 shot attempts from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line for his game-high 26 points. Modzelewski chipped in 23 points while Pace contributed a double-double finishing the game with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Pace also tied a career-high with six blocks during the contest. Smith did an excellent job facilitating the offense assisting on five Golden Eagle baskets.
The fourth seeded Golden Eagles will face the top seeded Cardinals on Friday at 7:30 pm as the Green and Gold advanced onto the Final Four of the SUNYAC Tournament. Prior to Brockport's game, Oswego will face Geneseo at 5:30 pm in Plattsburgh. The winners of the Semi-Final round will advance onto the SUNYAC Championship which is scheduled for a 4:00 pm tip-off on Saturday in Plattsburgh.