BROCKPORT, N.Y. – Brockport outscored Cortland 14-2 over the first four minutes of the second half to take a 16-point lead and the Golden Eagles never looked back in an 84-65 win over the Red Dragons in the regular-season finale for both squads.
Cortland (16-9, 10-8 SUNYAC), despite the loss, will be the fourth seed in the upcoming six-team SUNYAC playoffs and will host fifth-seeded Oneonta in the opening round Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Brockport (15-10, 11-7 SUNYAC) earned the third seed with the win and will host sixth-seeded Potsdam Tuesday.
Justin Summers led Brockport with 25 points and eight rebounds. He connected on 10-of-13 shots from the floor, including both of his 3-point attempts. Chris Atkinson scored 16 points and finished with game highs of eight assists and three steals, and Jahidi Wallace made 5-of-7 shots in a 12-point effort.
Nicky Bonura (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) and
Kenny Charles (Huntington) led four Cortland double-figure scorers with 14 points apiece.
Ryan Schmadel (Oriskany) hit 3-of-6 treys and ended with 12 points and
Justin Cooper (Pine Plains/Stissing Mountain) tallied 10 points and seven rebounds.
Brendan Fitzpatrick (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK) hauled in a career-high seven rebounds to share the team lead, and he was one of four Red Dragons, along with Schmadel, Bonura and Cooper, to dish out three assists.
Cortland got off to a quick start with a 13-2 lead just over five minutes into the game. Schmadel started that run with two 3-pointers. Brockport slowly cut into the deficit and was within 26-25 with 7:24 remaining in the half. The Golden Eagles took their first lead at 34-33 on an Atkinson free throw with 4:18 left before halftime and led 40-36 at the break.
Leading 43-38 just over a minute into the second half, Brockport started its decisive run with a Summers jumper, followed by a Danny Ashley layup, a Summers bucket and a Josh Nelson 3-pointer. A dunk by Devante Hagins capped the stretch and the Golden Eagles led 54-38 with 15:59 remaining. The closest Cortland got after that point was 13 points on six different occasions over the following six minutes.
Brockport shot 56 percent from the field in the second half and finished at an even 50 percent (35-of-70). Cortland shot 48 percent in the opening half but cooled down to 35 percent in the second and ended at 41 percent. The teams were nearly identical from 3-point range – Brockport was 8-of-27 and Cortland 8-of-29. A big factor in the outcome was turnovers – Cortland committed 18 to only seven by Brockport, and the hosts held a 24-7 advantage in points off of turnovers as a result.
