BROCKPORT, N.Y. – An offensive outburst in the second half pushed No. 4-seeded SUNY Brockport past the No. 8-seeded St. John Fisher men's basketball team (13-14 overall) 74-57 in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament semifinals on Wednesday night at the Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium. 

Winners of nine consecutive games, the Golden Eagles (16-11 overall) will host No. 7-seeded Keuka College in the conference championship on Saturday. The Wolves (14-13) edged No. 3-seeded SUNY Geneseo 55-53 in their semifinal contest.

Brockport pulled away from Fisher in the final 20 minutes while shooting 19-of-31 (61.2%) overall and 7-of-14 (50%) from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles, who led by just one at halftime, outscored the Cardinals by 16, 49-33, in the second half. 

A balanced Brockport scoring attack included five players who contributed 10 points or more. Camron Dyer and Jack Clancy, who shot 3-of-5 from 3-point range, both scored 13 points to lead the Golden Eagles. Jacob Oka and Pharell Aybar each had 12, and Ajani Flemming chipped in 10. Oka's final line also included nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and a blocked shot. 

Junior guard Jonathan McCaffrey led the Cardinals with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3-point territory. Sophomore guard Jack Janes had nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds, while freshman guard Mekhi Gidney and sophomore guard Andrew Violante had eight points apiece. Nobody else had more than six points. 

How It Happened 

For as quickly as the points piled up in the second half, especially for the home team, both sides struggled mightily offensively over the first 20 minutes of play. The Cardinals shot 10-of-30 (30.3%) overall and 1-of-10 from three (10%), while the Golden Eagles went 7-of-29 (24.1%) and 2-of-6 (33.3%), respectively. 

Brockport began the game on a 5-0 run and went on a 6-0 surge midway through the half behind four points from Aybar, who had nine total in the first frame on 3-of-4 shooting, to take an 18-12 lead. After going scoreless for more than two minutes, the Cardinals strung together a 6-0 run of their own to pull even at 18. Janes made a pair of contested shots inside, and senior forward Louis Fay had the other two points with a layup. 

The Golden Eagles went on another short run later in the half, a 7-0 burst that lasted just over two minutes to make the score 25-18. The Cardinals nearly matched them again, though, finishing the half on a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to 25-24. Sophomore forward/center Maximus Michalski had four of his six points for the game during that stretch, while Janes had the other two on a layup. 

Brockport outscored the Cardinals by seven over the first five minutes and change in the second half to push their lead to eight, 38-30. At least for a little while longer, McCaffrey kept Fisher in the game almost single-handedly with seven points on two layups and a 3-pointer. Violante also made a key basket as the Cardinals fought to stay within striking distance, powering through contact for a layup that trimmed Brockport's lead to four, 43-39, with 11:57 left.

It didn't take very much longer for the decisive Brockport run to commence, though. 

A 13-5 surge gave the Golden Eagles a 12-point lead, 56-44, with about six minutes remaining. They seemingly got contributions from everyone during those five-plus minutes, with three points from Aybar and Dyer, two from Oka, Clancy and Omar White, and one from Christian Amica. Janes drilled a 3-pointer to make it an 11-point game with five minutes left, but the Golden Eagles quickly separated again to put the game away, using a 12-4 push to take a 70-51 lead. Clancy, who scored 11 of his 13 total points in the second half, drilled a pair of 3-pointers during that run. 

Game Notes

• McCaffrey scored all 12 of his points in the second half while shooting 5-of-8 overall and 2-of-2 from three. 

• Graduate senior Christian Daley, playing in his final collegiate game, sank a pair of 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the game. He matched his career high with the two made triples. 

• Janes matched his career high with 10 rebounds. 

• The Cardinals struggled to make shots from and reach the free-throw line, finishing the night 3-of-10. Brockport, by contrast, went 13-of-18 overall, including 9-of-12 while otherwise struggling offensively in the first half.