Eagles, shunned by NCAA, to host ECACs

By Jim Krencik
SPORTS EDITOR

Photo By Jim Krencik, SPORTS EDITOR Shawn Harris

The College at Brockport men’s basketball team won’t get a chance to repeat last year’s NCAA Tournament run, but the Golden Eagles (19-8) will get a chance to finish the year at home with a championship.

Brockport was chosen as host and No. 1 seed of this season’s Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate New York Championship, a seven-team tournament for teams who just missed NCAA qualification.

The Golden Eagles are joined by a tournament field that includes SUNYAC teams Oswego and Cortland, as well as regional rivals St. John Fisher, Vassar, Medaille and Cazenovia.

Brockport has a bye for the first-round of the tournament, meaning the Golden Eagles will have all week to prepare for their next game, scheduled for Saturday, March 8 at 8 p.m. against the winner of the first-round game between St. John Fisher and Vassar.

The other first-round games will be Oswego hosting Cazenovia and Cortland hosting Medaille.
Saturday’s semi-final doubleheader and Sunday’s final will be held at Tuttle North Gymnasium.

At the very least, the tournament could provide Brockport a chance for revenge against Oswego. The Golden Eagles were on the NCAA Tournament-bubble heading into SUNYACS, but a loss to the Lakers in the semi-finals sealed their fate.

Also, while the level of competition is not equal to that of the NCAA Tournament, the competition will give Brockport fans one last chance to see SUNYAC All-Conference Team members Brandon Williams and Sherod Harris. Mychal Wilkes was also named to the all-conference team.

Williams and Harris were both named to the SUNYAC All-Conference’s First-Team.
Harris was Brockport’s leading scorer (17.1 per game) and Williams was the top Golden Eagle rebounder (8.5 per game) in 2007-08.

Wilkes was a SUNYAC All-Conference Third-Team selection after hitting a team-high 61 three-point shots this season.