By: Ashton Townsend
The Brockport Golden Eagles men's basketball team grabbed a 96-80 victory over the St. John Fisher Cardinals. The Golden Eagles recovered from a 10-0 deficit with a 15-2 run early in the first half to take a 15-12 lead, which they would never give up to win their seventh straight game.
"We had to regroup at halftime and find it and guys did," Golden Eagles head coach Joe Clarke said. "We made some shots, sped them up a little bit, got up the court and guys did what they normally do."
Sophomore guard Alex Tavarez netted 13 of his team-high 15 points in the first half for the Golden Eagles as they grabbed a 48-40 lead going into halftime. Tavarez connected on a pair of triples, hit four times from inside and made one free throw.
"Coming in after the win yesterday we knew it was gonna be a big game," Tavarez said. "So we decided to lock in as a unit and that's exactly what we did."
Brockport opened the first 10 minutes of the second half up with a 25-14 run to extend their lead to 17. In those 10 minutes, junior guard Zach Rice connected on three treys. Rice finished with 12 points in the game.
Senior guard Tony Arnold filled the box score adding 11 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.
"It's emotional because of senior night," Arnold said. "Being able to play in front of my family and friends means a lot to me. The stat line is cool but being able to be out here and have fun means a lot."
The Seniors for the Golden Eagles are Arnold, guards Colby Jordan, Jakai White and Jakhi Lucas, along with forwards Milo Scheeve, Adewale Fasanmi and Nico Morrison.
"We talk about our culture as a family and we put a lot of effort into defining what family is and then really experiencing it is great," Clarke said. "A lot of people say they're family just to say it, we do it, we live it and they'll all be family forever."
Junior Mekhi Beckett added 14 points for the Golden Eagles and Lucas added 11 points. All 14 players who touched the floor from the Golden Eagles scored at least a point and they had five players in double figures.
Senior forward Eric Kegler led all scorers for the Cardinals with 23 points. Senior forward Connor Williams ended with 18 points.
Brockport improved to 14-8 this season and remain in first in the Empire 8. As for St. John Fisher, the loss dropped the team to 6-16 and sit in last in the conference.
The Golden Eagles will travel to Alfred on Friday, Feb. 14 with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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