The first half was a sloppy stanza by both teams. The Spartans took an early 14-9 lead thanks to back-to-back triples from senior Brandon Bushey. The Golden Eagles bounced back to tie the game at 14 on a three by Ben Bellucci and a lay up by Dave Maldonado with 12:12 left in the half. York fashioned a 13-3 run highlighted by five points from Joe Yeck and four points from Quinn Howard as they led 27-17 with 7:42 remaining on the clock. The green and white pushed the lead to 14 on a pair of Kenny Fass free throws with 1:56 left. The Golden Eagles scored six of the final eight points of the half to head into the intermission down 45-35.
The two teams combined for 24 turnovers in the half but hot shooting made up for the miscues.York converted 57.6% from the floor while Brockport nailed 54.2% from the field for the half.
Brockport flew out of the locker room and began the half with a 17-9 run that trimmed the Spartan lead to 54-52 just 3:34 into the stanza. Bellucci tallied six points during the spurt as the Spartans were back on their heels. A York time out got the green and white back on balance and they scored the next seven points to take a 61-52 lead with 12:40 left. York maintained their lead in the upper single digits until a pair of Kenny Amparo free throws cut the Spartan lead to 70-64 with 7:46 remaining. York received a big three from Fass and Bushey followed with a lay up as the green and white pushed their advantage to 75-64 within 21 seconds of Amparo’s two free throws. Brockport trimmed the lead back into single digits at nine twice over the last four minutes but York pushed the lead to as many as 15 in the last two minutes before settling for a 14-point win.
York received four double digits efforts on the evening led by Bushey as the senior notched a season-high 21 points while he also pulled down a season-high eight rebounds. Bushey added four assists and two blocked shots. Senior center Brian Singer recorded his first double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Singer was 6-for-9 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Chad McGowan chipped in with 16 points, four rebounds, three blocked shots, and two steals for the green and white. Fass was the fourth Spartan in double figures with 14 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in 32 minutes.
Bellucci led the Golden Eagles with 24 points while he also had seven rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot and a steal. Bellucci was 8-for-16 from the floor, 1-for-2 from three, and 7-for-9 from the charity stripe. John Rother, playing his first game for SUNY-Brockport, added 19 points to the Golden Eagle attack. Amparo added 13 points, five rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and a steal in 24 points while Jerry Cheves was the third Golden Eagle in double figures with 12 points. Cheves pulled down a team-high eight boards for Brockport.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 49.3% after their blistering first half. Brockport shot 48.3% from the field for the game. Neither team lit it up from the free throw line as York was 16-for-25 (64%) while Brockport was just 14-for-25 (56%) for the contest. York held a 42-36 edge on the glass while they also held a 24-18 advantage in bench points. The Spartans committed just six second half turnovers while they forced nine Brockport miscues in the second half and 23 errors in the game. York turned those 23 turnovers into 29 points while Brockport was able to get just nine points off the green and white’s 16 turnovers.
The Spartans return to action on Friday when they host Lebanon Valley in the opening round of the Sixth Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Tip time on Friday is set for 6:00 pm. Lincoln and Messiah face off in Friday’s second game with tip time set at 8:00 pm.
SUNY-Brockport vs York (Pa.) 1/4/06 7:00 pm at Charles Wolf Gym - York, PA At Charles Wolf Gym - York, PA YORK (PA.) 91, SUNY-BROCKPORT 77 SUNY-BROCKPORT (3-4) Ben Bellucci 8-16 7-9 24; John Rother 8-14 1-3 19; Kenny Amparo 4-5 5-8 13; Jerry Cheves 4-12 0-0 12; Dan Rubertone 2-3 0-3 4; Josh Zenkel 1-1 1-2 3; Dave Maldonado 1-3 0-0 2; Jake Hanlon 0-0 0-0 0; Ian Mack 0-0 0-0 0; Mychal Wilkes 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 14-25 77. YORK (PA.) (9-1) Brandon Bushey 7-14 3-4 21; Chad McGowan 8-15 0-2 16; Brian Singer 6-9 2-4 14; Kenny Fass 5-8 3-4 14; Brad Zerfing 3-7 3-4 9; Nate Fry 1-5 3-4 6; Joe Yeck 2-6 0-0 5; Quinn Howard 2-2 0-0 4; Paddy Lee 0-3 2-3 2. Totals 34-69 16-25 91. SUNY-Brockport................ 35 42 - 77 York (Pa.).................... 45 46 - 91 3-point goals-SUNY-Brockport 7-18 (Jerry Cheves 4-8; John Rother 2-5; Ben Bellucci 1-2; Dave Maldonado 0-2; Mychal Wilkes 0-1), York (Pa.) 7-23 (Brandon Bushey 4-8; Joe Yeck 1-3; Nate Fry 1-3; Kenny Fass 1-3; Brad Zerfing 0-2; Chad McGowan 0-4). Fouled out--SUNY-Brockport-Dan Rubertone; Jerry Cheves, York (Pa.)-None. Rebounds-SUNY-Brockport 36 (Jerry Cheves 8), York (Pa.) 42 (Brian Singer 12). Assists-SUNY-Brockport 15 (Ian Mack 3; Ben Bellucci 3; Kenny Amparo 3), York (Pa.) 24 (Kenny Fass 5; Joe Yeck 5). Total fouls-SUNY-Brockport 23, York (Pa.) 21. A-295 The Spartans win their 22nd straight win at Wolf Gym. York is set to host Lebanon Valley in the opening round of the Sixth Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Friday night. Tip time is 6:00 pm. Brockport travels to Catholic University on Friday to face Eastern in the CUA Pepsi Tournament.