Last Saturday was Senior Night for Geneseo's basketball teams, as the men and women faced off against the Brockport Golden Eagles. The men avenged two previous losses to their rivals with a 72-62 upset, whereas the women lost by one point in a thrilling game against the conference juggernaut.
After losing to Brockport twice in a four-day span in January, the men were eager to settle the score and used suffocating defense to stymie the Golden Eagles throughout the game. Mixing up man-to-man with a 1-3-1 zone, the Knights held Brockport to their lowest scoring output of the season, continuing their recent trend of defensive dominance.
Seniors Joe Kling and Tarik Kitson celebrated their Senior Night to the tune of 33 combined points, and fellow senior Manuel Karam chipped in two steals in 19 minutes to lead the Knights to the upset.
"[Kling] stands out first and foremost with his defense," said head coach Steve Minton. "He is our catalyst defensively."
The men's game was preceded by a scintillating women's game that was undecided until the final seconds. Geneseo led by one with 20 seconds left, but Brockport's Ashley Broadhurst hit a jumper eight seconds later to reverse the lead.
Two last-ditch shots by junior Tracy Wangelin and sophomore Khadija Campbell were off the mark, and Brockport hung on to win 65-64.
Geneseo's four seniors all performed well in their regular-season finale. Annie Verdino tallied 18 points, Amanda Haney collected 14 rebounds, and guards Lydia Reed and Merrissa Wilson combined for 15 points and six assists.
Coach Scott Hemer remained upbeat heading into their playoff game against Oneonta.
"I thought we played as good of a game as we could play," he said. "…[The close loss] gives you the confidence that you can play with any team in the conference."