Golden Eagles start conference play with wild win

Men’s basketball beats New Pultz 74-59; large crowd turns out to see Brockport’s home opener

By George Banko
STAFF WRITER

Photo by Jim Krencik, SPORTS EDITOR Brandon Williams battled his way to 19 points.

The SUNY Brockport men’s basketball team came out looking to establish themselves in their first home game against conference rival SUNY New Paltz (2-4, 0-1).

The Golden Eagles (2-1, 1-0) were successful in their goal from tip-off, and Brockport never allowed the visiting Hawks to take the lead en route to a 74-59 win.

“I think we came out very intense,” said Brockport junior Joe Clarke. “Our style of play has always been to press hard and run up and down the court and I think we did that early on.”

More than 1,000 people were pounding their feet on the wooden bleachers in anticipation for the opening tip-off, and Brockport was able to carry that pre-game energy into the first half. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a  17-5 lead.

“We started out well,” Brockport head coach Greg Dunne said. “I got to give a lot of credit to the fans. Usually we never get crowds this big on opening night.”

Brockport’s run was halted when senior forward Brandon Williams got into early foul trouble and did not return until the beginning of the second half.

Without the Golden Eagles’ most dominant post presence, New Paltz was able to respond with a 12-2 run of their own. The Hawks were able to hold the 17th ranked team in the country to just 33 first-half points.

In the second half, Williams re-entered the game and Brockport looked to get the ball to him in the post on what seemed like every possession. Williams dropped 19 points on the Hawks, 15 of them after halftime.

“We need Brandon Williams on the floor,” Dunne said. “He tends to get into foul trouble, but he is one of the better post players in the country and is vital to our team.”

Mychal Wilkes added 11 points and 8 assists for the Golden Eagles. Wilkes’ lay-in with less than 13 minutes to go gave the Golden Eagles a 57-38 lead.

New Paltz rebounded to go on a 14-0 run over the next six minutes, but Brockport was able to rebuild their lead and keep the Hawks from making the ending interesting.

Brockport is off to a good start, but the team is always looking to improve in certain areas.

“Our defensive intensity needs to get better,” Dunne said. “Our intensity is at about 50 percent right now and we need it to be at 100 percent.”

Clarke said the team needs to improve its free-throw shooting. The Golden Eagles are shooting just 61 percent at the stripe for the year.

Clarke also said the team needs to improve at rebounding. Brockport’s size makes rebounding tough, with the Golden Eagles’ not starting any players standing above six feet-two inches.

Dunne also said his team needs to get healthy, with 6-8 senior Bobby Brooks and sophomore guard Zach Mctique nursing injuries.

The Golden Eagles’ last game of the semester is another SUNYAC battle. Brockport travels to Oneonta to take on the Red Dragons Friday, Nov. 7.

Look for a recap of the Golden Eagles game against Roberts Wesleyan, which happened after The Stylus went to press, at our Web site.