By: Ashton Townsend
BROCKPORT, NY --- The Brockport Golden Eagles won 81-80 over the SUNY Poly Wildcats in Empire 8 play. Junior forward Mekhi Beckett and senior guard Tony Arnold each led the Golden Eagles with 14 points in the win.
In a back and forth first eight minutes of play, the Wildcats had a 10-9 lead. The Golden Eagles then went on a 7-0 run to grab the lead and eventually open up 38-25 lead going into the break. Junior guard Zach Rice led Brockport with eight points at the half.
"We're in lanes, we're scrambling well and we're talking." Brockport head coach Joe Clarke said. "We need to keep people in front and for the most part our effort was there."
SUNY Poly began to chip away at the lead as Cheickne Toure and LeMarqus Merchant Jr. started to heat up for the Wildcats. Toure hit a layup to give Poly a 57-55 lead and Merchant Jr. hit a free throw to extend the lead to three with 7:30 left in regulation. It was back and forth from there.
Senior Jakhi Lucas hit a layup to bring Brockport within one, then Beckett hit a deep three to grab the Golden Eagles a two-point lead.
With 2:29 left, and the game tied at 67, sophomore guard Nathaniel Gordon knocked down a three to give the Golden Eagles a three-point lead.
The Golden Eagles needed free-throws to ice the game, and Arnold, coming into the game shooting them at a 57% clip, went 4-for-4 down the stretch to ice the game. Arnold finished 10-12 from the charity stripe.
"I need to stick with it, I shoot a lot of free throws after practice and I got to stick with it because I know I'm struggling," Arnold said. "I need to step up at the line, be confident and know that I'm one of the best players in the conference."
The Golden Eagles ended with five players in double-figures as Lucas netted 12 points while Gordon (10) and Rice scored 10 apiece. To go along with the scoring, Brockport outrebounded the Wildcats 44-35 and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds.
Merchant Jr. led all scorers with 22 points for the Wildcats. Toure added 20 points and Anthony Rose connected for 15 points, 14 of which came in the second half.
After starting 1-6, the Golden Eagles are now 5-7 and 3-1 in Empire 8 play since the break. The Wildcats are now 7-6 and 2-2 in Empire 8 play.
"When conference play started, we were 0-0," Arnold said. "We took the break, went home, refocused and now we have the mindset of coming in and getting better every day no matter the win or the loss."
The Golden Eagles move on to face Elmira on Jan. 17, 2024. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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