By: Matt Palisin, Zach Jordon
FREDONIA, N.Y. -- This weekend will mark the final home games of the season for the Fredonia State men's basketball team. They will square off against the top two teams in the conference, and hope to keep up their recent winning ways.
Friday night the team will take on conference foe Geneseo at 8 p.m. The Blue Devils enter the weekend 6-15 overall and 3-11 in SUNYAC play. Geneseo will come into Steele Hall second in the conference standings (16-3, 10-2).
Saturday -- Senior Day -- the Devils will take on SUNYAC-leading Brockport, who is ranked No. 15 in the Feb. 3rd d3hoops.com poll.
Brockport and Geneseo are also ranked 1-2 by the NCAA in the East Region rankings. Geneseo received 12 votes in the Top 25 poll.
The Blue Devils have been eliminated from post season competition. Unfortunately for the Devils, though, the season looks to be ending a little too soon.
The team has shown a dramatic improvement, and they are coming off a pair of wins and an overtime loss in the past three games.
Senior
Tyrone Clark (Elmira/Elmira Notre Dame) has put together one of the most exciting seasons in recent team history. With four games to go -- the team travels to Potsdam and Plattsburgh next weekend -- Clark is currently seventh in single-season scoring at 446 points. Given his current pace of 21.7 ppg, he could find himself in the Top Four all time. His season per-game average ranks fourth.
He is also tied for 10th on the single-season three-point list with 48. Five more long-range jumpers would move him all the way up to fourth place. Greg Lauer connected for 63 back in the 1999-2000 campaign.
His top game this season -- 45 points -- also tied a 29-year old school record set by All American Chris Hughey back in December of 1985.
In addition to Clark, the team has three other seniors making their Steele Hall swan song. Team-captain
Markus Williams (Niagara Falls/Niagara Wheatfield) has averaged 5.4 ppg and 4.0 rebounds.
Ray Parris (Brooklyn/Benjamin Bannaker) and
Zack Edwards (Duanesburg) have seen limited playing time due to injury and will not be active for the game. Parris average 5.1 points in nine games, and Edwards made one appearance before his season ended.
