Eagles nip Devils
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men's basketball
BOX SCORE: BROCKPORT 53, BLUE DEVILS 48
FREDONIA, N.Y. -- The battle for early-season SUNYAC supremacy in men’s basketball was a defensive struggle that went down to the wire, with Brockport coming away with a 53-48 road victory. The Golden Eagles now sit alone atop the conference at 5-1, while the Devils fall into second place at 4-2.
A low-scoring first half saw the Blue Devils lead 22-21 at the break. They controlled the boards in the early going, out-rebounding Brockport, 25-16, in the frame. Fredonia State’s Brad Cooper (Monticello) led all scorers with 12 points.
Unfortunately for the Devils -- who were already missing senior captain Kevin Saunders from the lineup -- that was all they would get from their other senior captain, who was injured late in the half and missed the remainder of the game.
The Devils led for most of the second half. Brockport eventually tied the game 37-37 with a three-pointer by Gerald Williams with 8:18 to go. Brandon Williams connected on the front end of a one-and-one at 7:26 to give Brockport its first lead, 38-37, since 1:54 left in the first half.
Brandon Williams nailed a three to up the lead to four, 41-37.
The Devils answered when Joseph Monahan (Floral Park/Holy Cross) converted on a three-point play at 5:20 to make it a one point game. The Devils re-took the lead, 42-41, on a Kyle Mitchell (Lake Luzerne/Hadley-Luzerne) layup on the next trip down the floor.
A Brockport three pointer by Gerald Williams, followed by a Scott Valenta (Binghamton) layup for the Devils tied the game at 44-all.
Brandon Williams then converted a three-point play to put Brockport back on top 47-44 with 3:47 left. He scored on the Eagles next possession to give them their biggest lead of the game, 49-44.
He would then connect on a free throw at 1:31. Between attempts, Brockport was called for a technical foul. Greg MacBride (Clifton Springs/Newark) converted a pair of free throws for the Devils. Williams missed the second attempt, as Brockport held a 50-46 lead.
On the ensuing possession, Julius Bryant (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) made a layup off an Amir Billups (Buffalo/Starpoint) assist to make it 50-48 with 1:18 to go.
Brandon Williams was back at the line for Brockport with 25.7 seconds left, and made the first of two free throws to make it 51-48. Valenta grabbed the miss on the second attempt and the Devils called timeout at 19.2 seconds.
Billups fired a three pointer that rattled in and out, and Brockport’s Gerald Williams grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 3.0 seconds remaining. He connected on both free throws to ice the game and give the final, 53-48.
Cooper wound up as the Devils’ leading scorer with 12. MacBride added nine points.
The Williams duo – Brandon and Gerald – scored 20 and 15 points, respectively, to account for 35 of Brockport’s 53 points.
The Devils even their overall record at 6-6, while Brockport moves to 9-4 on the season.
The Devils travel to Cortland and Oswego this weekend.