CORTLAND, N.Y. – Junior Ron Evans (New Hartford) scored 18 points and senior Paul Oliver (Phoenix) finished with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds as Cortland won 68-54 over visiting Buffalo State.
Junior Dustin Marshall (Newfield) added 13 points and five rebounds and junior Chris Milke (Macedon/Palmyra-Macedon) grabbed seven rebounds and matched his career high with six blocked shots for the Red Dragons (9-6, 5-3 SUNYAC). Sophomore Brian Manning (Elmira/Elmira Southside) scored eight points, all in the final nine minutes, and senior Ben Nagle (Rochester/Aquinas Institute) recorded nine rebounds.
Antonio Samedi (St. Albans/Queens Vocational) paced Buffalo State (6-8, 4-4 SUNYAC) with 11 points and four blocked shots and T.O. Jackson (Bronx/Bronx Regional) finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Cortland went on a 7-0 run midway through the first half to extend a 20-16 lead to 27-16 with 5:24 left. The Red Dragons also finished the half on a 9-1 run, five of the points coming from Evans, and led 41-24 at the break. Evans scored 13 of his 18 points (3-of-5 three-pointers) in the first half.
Buffalo State dominated the first 10 minutes of the second half, outscoring Cortland 24-11 to close within 52-48 with 10:04 left. It was still a six-point game at 56-50 after a Justin Mitchell (Buffalo/Bishop Timon-St. Jude) dunk with 6:04 left, but Cortland scored the next five points on baskets by Milke and Manning and an Evans free throw. The Red Dragons took a 63-52 lead on a Manning fast break layup off a Jeremy Smith (Bronx/Riverdale Kingsbridge) with 3:08 left and led by double figures the rest of the way.
Cortland shot 55 percent from the field in the second half (11-of-20) and 43 percent for the game. The Red Dragons held the Bengals to 31 percent shooting for the game, including 3-of-19 (16 percent) from three-point range.
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