PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Brian Beckford (Brooklyn/Christ the King) scored 25 points and hauled in 15 rebounds as Oneonta defeated Cortland, 66-55, in the SUNYAC men’s basketball tournament semifinals at SUNY Plattsburgh.
Oneonta (22-5), seeded second, advances to the SUNYAC title game for the first time since 1991 and will face host and top-seeded Plattsburgh Saturday at 4 p.m.
Third-seeded Cortland (16-11) had four double-figure scorers, led by freshman Jeremy Smith’s (Bronx/Riverdale Kingsbridge) 12 points. Freshman Jesse Winter (Rockville Centre/South Side) scored 11 points while senior Paul Oliver (Phoenix) and sophomore Brian Manning (Elmira/Elmira Southside) tallied 10 points each. Oliver and junior Dustin Marshall (Newfield) led the team with seven rebounds each, Oliver blocked three shots and Marshall dished out six assists.
Troy Talbot (Brooklyn/The School for Legal Studies) finished with 14 points and Shane Gillette (Hurley/Kingston) had nine points and five rebounds for Oneonta.
Beckford scored 15 points in the second half as Oneonta held off a handful of Cortland charges. Oneonta led 35-28 at halftime and was up 48-37 with 13:42 left after a Talbot three-point play, but Cortland got back to within four three times, the last at 56-52 on a Smith jumper with 5:30 left.
Cortland failed on three opportunities to draw even closer, and Talbot made two free throws with 2:44 left to push the lead to six. After another Cortland miss, Talbot hit a jumper with 1:42 left and Gillette added two free throws with 1:07 remaining to give Oneonta a 10-point lead.
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