Brockport's stingy defense forced nine turnovers in the opening 6:37, holding Roberts Wesleyan to no points on 10 shots.
The Raiders used a 31-10 rally, capped by a jumper from Joseph Jones with 4:01 left in the half, to knot the score at 31-31. The teams traded the lead over the last few minutes of the first half, until Josh Zenkel connected for the final four points of the half, giving Brockport a 39-35 edge at intermission.
Kenny Amparo opened scoring for Brockport in the second half, pushing the Golden Eagles' lead to 41-35, but the Raiders used a 12-7 surge to trim the deficit to one, 48-47, but could come no closer, as Brockport responded with an 8-3 run, capped by a Bellucci free throw to push the lead to 57-50, with 13:42 remaining.
Brockport led by as many as 18 points in the second half, 78-60, with 5:49 remaining. Roberts Wesleyan trimmed the deficit to seven points on four occasions, the last coming on a lay up from Mark Saladzius with 42 seconds remaining, but the Golden Eagles connected on six of their final eight free throws to seal the victory.
SUNY Brockport held a narrow 47-44 advantage on the boards, and managed to convert that edge into 18 second chance points, while holding the Raiders to 12. The Golden Eagles held a decisive advantage in free throw shooting in the second half, connecting on 22-of-36 attempts, while allowing Roberts Wesleyan to step to the charity stripe 23 times.
Bellucci paced the Brockport offense with 30 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Dan Rubertone also notched a double-double, pouring in 18 points, and grabbing a game-high 11 boards and four steals. Zenkel finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and three steals, while Cheves and Dave Maldonado finished with 10 points apiece.
Alfonso Evans led the Raiders with 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Greg Thom had 13 points.
The SUNY Brockport men's basketball team will return to action on January 4, when they travel to York (PA) College. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score SUNY Brockport vs Roberts Wesleyan Raiders 12/07/05 8:00 p.m. at Rochester, NY; Voller Athletic Center At Rochester, NY; Voller Athletic Center SUNY BROCKPORT 95, ROBERTS WESLEYAN RAIDERS 82 SUNY BROCKPORT (3-3) BELLUCCI, Ben 13-19 4-7 30; RUBERTONE, Dan 6-14 6-10 18; ZENKEL, Josh 6-7 4-6 17; CHEVES, Jerry 3-11 2-3 10; MALDONADO, Dave 3-6 2-2 10; AMPARO, Kenny 1-8 4-4 6; KAYS, Eamon 1-3 0-0 2; MACK, Ian 1-5 0-4 2. Totals 34-73 22-36 95. ROBERTS WESLEYAN RAIDERS (4-3) EVANS, Alfonso 10-20 5-5 28; THOM, Greg 5-7 3-4 13; JONES, Joseph 4-14 2-4 11; KISH, Mark 4-6 1-4 10; DANIELS, Branden 2-5 1-2 7; SALADZIUS, Mark 3-5 0-0 6; VUKOJEVIC, Dusan 2-3 2-2 6; LIEBMAN, Jake 0-0 1-2 1; LEWIS, Benjamin 0-2 0-0 0; UTHMAN, Taurean 0-0 0-0 0; LOCKWOOD, Jason 0-3 0-0 0; DROBAC, Vladimir 0-3 0-0 0; McCLARY, Caleb 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-69 15-23 82. SUNY Brockport................ 39 56 - 95 Roberts Wesleyan Raiders...... 35 47 - 82 3-point goals-SUNY Brockport 5-15 (MALDONADO, Dave 2-5; CHEVES, Jerry 2-7; ZENKEL, Josh 1-1; MACK, Ian 0-1; BELLUCCI, Ben 0-1), Roberts Wesleyan Raiders 7-25 (EVANS, Alfonso 3-9; DANIELS, Branden 2-2; KISH, Mark 1-1; JONES, Joseph 1-5; LEWIS, Benjamin 0-1; LOCKWOOD, Jason 0-2; DROBAC, Vladimir 0-3; McCLARY, Caleb 0-1; SALADZIUS, Mark 0-1). Fouled out--SUNY Brockport-None, Roberts Wesleyan Raiders-DANIELS, Branden. Rebounds-SUNY Brockport 47 (RUBERTONE, Dan 11), Roberts Wesleyan Raiders 44 (EVANS, Alfonso 10). Assists-SUNY Brockport 17 (BELLUCCI, Ben 7), Roberts Wesleyan Raiders 18 (DANIELS, Branden 8). Total fouls-SUNY Brockport 22, Roberts Wesleyan Raiders 30. A-879