News Release

UTICA, NY — Junior Jon Rother scored 14 points in each half to lead the SUNY Brockport Men’s Basketball team past SUNYIT in the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Upstate New York Tournament with a 91-88 victory. The No. 6 seeded Golden Eagles (15-12) will face No. 7 Ithaca in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday in Oswego. The top seeded Lakers will take on No. 4 Potsdam in the other semifinal and the winners will meet in the championship game at 2 p.m. Saturday also at Oswego.

Rother capped a 10-0 run late in the second half with a dunk as the Golden Eagles took a 14-point lead with four minutes to play in the game. The Wildcats (16-12) mounted a comeback in the closing minutes to cut the lead to just two points but two free throws by Ben Bellucci and three free throws by Ian Mack kept Brockport ahead in the final seconds.

Brockport fell behind early in the game and used a 17-6 run to end the first half to take a 46-39 lead into the intermission. Rother and Bellucci combined for 10 points in the run to give Brockport momentum heading into the second half.

SUNYIT used a 12-5 run to start the second half to tie the game at 51-51 six minutes into the half. The teams traded baskets over the next six minutes before a blocked shot by Rother keyed a 19-3 run that gave Brockport the late double-digit lead.

Rother finished with 28 points and a team leading eight rebounds. Bellucci added 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 8-of-12 free throws. Mychal Wilkes chipped in 15 points with five 3-pointers and Kenny Amparo scored 11 points.