The Brockport Golden Eagles men’s basketball team took the court to host the SUNY Poly Wildcats in game one of a back-to-back looking to extend their win streak to five straight. Brockport controlled on defense, holding the Wildcats to their lowest point total in a game this season in the 70-55 victory.
The Golden Eagles struck quick, taking a 5-0 run through the first 1:30 of action. SUNY Poly responded just as fast and went on a 16-4 run spearheaded by William Scanlon and Oumaru Hydara.
Brockport head coach Joe Clarke took a timeout to refocus his team before Ajani Flemming drained a three pointer and knocked down two free throws. Pharell Aybar followed with a layup to even the score at 16-16 before getting to the free throw line to take the lead.
“I was getting beat up,” Aybar said. “Every time I drive, they follow me. They hack at me. It’s whatever, I have to be strong and getting to the line is a reward.”
Aybar stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, a team-high nine rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal. Flemming followed with 10 points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists.
Defense prevailed throughout the first half, with both teams scoring a combined 40 points throughout 13 minutes of action. Camron Dyer turned the tides for the Golden Eagles, chaining together three pull up jumpers and knocked down a triple to give Brockport a 31-22 lead with less than three minutes to go.
Dyer recorded 13 of his game-high 20 points in the first half to help the Golden Eagles hold a 35-26 lead that it never gave up. The junior also added five rebounds, two blocks and one assist.
The defensive prowess continued for Brockport, as a handful of free throws from Aybar and a right handed hook shot from Cameron Pownall helped grow their lead to double-digits.
With nine minutes left in the game, Omar White stole a pass and drew a shooting foul and made his first of two shots to give Brockport a 56-42 lead. White ended the game with six points, six rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block. Pownall also scored six points, adding six rebounds, two blocks, one steal and one assist.
SUNY Poly began to claw back at the Golden Eagles’ lead, with Connor Fulkerson draining a right wing three and Leighton Williams Jr. knocked down a wide open mid range jumper.
Those comeback hopes were rapidly shut down by Dyer and Aybar. Both Golden Eagles drove in for layups before draining back-to-back threes to seal the win for Brockport.
“We are on a revenge tour right now,” Aybar said. “And Poly was at the top of our list. We can’t get spanked by 30 points and not expect us to come back. We’re here.”
Brockport climbs to 12-11 on the season with an 8-6 conference record. The Golden Eagles also extend their win streak to five straight games, defeating three separate top five teams in the Empire 8 in that span. SUNY Poly drops to 17-6 on the season with a 10-4 conference record.
The Golden Eagles look to claim another win tomorrow, Feb. 13 against the Utica Pioneers with tip-off scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
