In spite of losing both of their games this weekend, the Geneseo men's basketball team won the No. 1 seed for the SUNYAC playoffs by coming out on top in a bizarre four-way tiebreaker.
The Blue Knights, though tied for first place at 11-5, snagged the first place seed in the tiebreaker, with Buffalo State, Oswego and Oneonta following closely behind.
On Friday, the Blue Knights traveled to Fredonia, looking for a win to secure the top seed. In the first half play was favoring the Blue Knights and at halftime they led 28-25. During the second half, however, very little went right for Geneseo, and the team lost 64-59.
"It was a difficult game for us," said head coach Steve Minton. "Our top two players basically only played 40 minutes combined." Minton declined to comment on the nature and severity of junior Brandon Simpson's injury, which forced him to leave the game early.
Senior Scott Morton, Geneseo's leading scorer, fouled out of the game after playing only 21 minutes, scoring three points and grabbing two rebounds - both season lows.
"They're a solid defensive team, they did a great job of containing Scott and keeping the ball out of his hands," said Minton on the subject.
Senior Jeff Howe scored a team-high 13 points on his way to becoming the 22nd player in Geneseo history to score 1,000 points in his collegiate career. The Blue Knights shot just 6-14 from the free throw line.
The next night, Geneseo traveled to Brockport for one more chance to take the top seed. Unfortunately for the Blue Knights, the Golden Eagles had other plans. Geneseo trailed at halftime 36-33 and couldn't keep the Eagles from making a late run to take the victory 86-81.
"We needed to be more aggressive and not settle for shots," said Minton. "Looking back at the film, when we attacked the basket we had some success." The Blue Knights shot 9-18 from beyond the arc but only 2-7 in the first half.
Junior Kyle Stevens scored a career-high 22 points, making 8-12 from the floor, 5-7 from the arc and 1-1 from the line with eight rebounds. Morton netted 20 points with 12 boards and seven assists, including 9-12 from the line. Both Howe and freshman Mike Hoy scored 13 points apiece.