BROCKPORT, N.Y. – Aside from the site and the No. 1 overall seed, not much has changed on the surface of the SUNYAC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament since last season.
Just like what occurred in 2012-13, Plattsburgh State (21-4) enters the postseason fray as the No. 2 overall seed and will take on No. 3 seed SUNY Geneseo (21-5) in the first semifinal of the tournament at 6 p.m. Friday night in Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium on the campus of The College at Brockport.
The College at Brockport, ranked No. 16 in the latest version of the D3Hoops.com poll, secured the No. 1 overall seed for the tournament and will match basketball wits with No. 4 seed Oswego State at 8 p.m.
Ticket prices are $6 for general admission, $4 for high school students and senior citizens and there will be no charge for SUNY students who possess a valid ID. Fans that are unable to make the trip to Brockport can follow all the action via live stats, live video and a live internet radio feed. All of the links are available at the bottom of this release.
Since January 17, Plattsburgh State has reeled off a 13-1 record with those 13 triumphs occurring by an average of 15.2 points. Their sole setback during that stretch, though, came at the hands of the Knights who dictated the tempo for a hard-fought 60-51 win at Carl Schrader Gymnasium on February 8.
The semifinal bout between the two clubs pits the top two field goal shooting teams in the SUNYAC against one another. The Knights lead the league with a collective 49.9-percent while the Cardinals are second with a percentage of 46.5.
Geneseo leads the league in rebounding defense (31.0 per game) as well as assists (15.92 per game) while no conference squad has collected rebounds at a greater rate than the Cardinals. Plattsburgh State averages 40 rebounds per game, which includes 28.7 of the defensive variety. Both of those figures are tops in the SUNYAC.
In order to try and make it to the SUNYAC Championship Tournament Finals for the second consecutive year, the Cardinals will rely heavily in the senior duo of Chris Manning and John Perez.
In his final collegiate go-around, Manning facilitates the multi-pronged Plattsburgh State offensive attack from the point guard position. The Baldwin, N.Y., product leads the 10-team SUNYAC in both assists (5.1 per game) and steals (3.2 per game), and averages 5.5 points per game on 52.9-percent field goal shooting.
Perez serves as the Cardinals' rock-solid inside presence, as his 9.2 rebounds per game rank fourth among all SUNYAC student-athletes. The Haverstraw, N.Y., senior is averaging 12.5 points per game and has scored at least 11 in five of his last seven outings.
Patrolling the perimeter for the Cardinals is arguably the best sharpshooter the SUNYAC has to offer in sophomore Edward Correa. Hailing from the Bronx, N.Y., the 6'1 sophomore has victimized the opposition night in and night out with his long-range prowess. By averaging a SUNYAC-leading 2.8 treys per tilt while shooting 39.1 percent (the third highest percentage in the league) from beyond the arc, the second-year man has broken the 20-point barrier on five occasions in 2013-14.
Sure-shooting junior Ezra Hodgson will likely play a much more significant role for the Cardinals in this tilt. The Rindge, N.H., native has played in all 25 games for the Cardinals and is shooting 38.8-percent from three-point land.
Coming off the bench will be the likes of junior guard Mike Mitchell, high-flying sophomore Xavier Thomas and junior post player Alan Siergiej.
Fueling the Knights' plans for a SUNYAC Championship Tournament run are the Gordon Lyons and Connor Fedge. The pair of upperclassmen combines to form a dangerous inside-outside tandem with Lyons leading the charge in the painted area. Fedge netted a game-high 22 points to lead the Knights past Oneonta State via a 79-67 tally in one of two quarterfinal games on Tuesday night.
Lyons, a junior, is peerless in the SUNYAC in terms of rebounding as he snares 11.4 per game. As far as scoring goes, Lyons is pumping in an average of 18.1 per tilt – the seventh-best average in the SUNYAC. During the 2013-14 season, he has made good on 63.9 percent of his field goal attempts – the second-best mark in the league.
In his final season, Fedge boasts a 52.7-percent shooting clip and can be counted on for another 15.6 points per game. Stretching the defense with their outside shooting are Matt Curry, James McKenna, Andy Drescher and Thomas Decker. All of those players average at least three trifecta tries per game.
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