CORTLAND, N.Y. – Jake Simmons (Rochester/School of the Arts) hit a tiebreaking three-pointer with eight seconds remaining and finished with a team-high 18 points as Buffalo State defeated Cortland, 66-62.
Cortland tied the game at 62-62 on a long three-pointer by Brian Manning (Elmira/Elmira Southside) with 15 seconds remaining, but the Bengals raced downcourt and Simmons made his third three-pointer of the game to put the hosts ahead. Following a pair of timeouts, Cortland turned the ball over with three seconds remaining and T.O. Jackson made the second of two free throws with one second left to seal the victory.
Antonio Samedi (St. Albans/Queens Vocational) made 6-of-9 free throws and finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots for Buffalo State (11-12, 9-8 SUNYAC). Glenroy Carr (Amherst/Sweet Home) added 10 points and three assists.
Junior Dustin Marshall (Newfield) led Cortland (14-10, 10-7 SUNYAC) with 21 points and nine rebounds. He hit 4-of-7 shots from three-point range. Senior Ben Nagle (Rochester/Aquinas Institute) tied his career high with 18 points and also grabbed eight rebounds and Manning finished with 10 points and eight boards. Junior Chris Milke (Macedon/Palmyra-Macedon) chipped in with seven points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
Buffalo State led 32-25 at halftime as Simmons nailed a three-pointer two seconds before the buzzer. Cortland fought back and took its first lead of the second half at 36-35 on a Nagle three-point play with 14:50 remaining.
The game was tied seven more times from that point. Buffalo State took a 62-57 lead with 1:53 left on two Jackson foul shots, but Nagle hit a shot with 56 seconds remaining and, following a missed free throw by the Bengals, Manning tied the game with 15 seconds left and the shot clock starting to run down.
Cortland can finish as either the third or fourth seed for next week’s SUNYAC playoffs. If the Red Dragons win Saturday at Fredonia and Brockport (11-6) loses at Plattsburgh, Cortland will tie the Golden Eagles for third and will be the third seed due to a season sweep over the Golden Eagles. Otherwise, the Red Dragons will be the fourth seed, even if they finish in a tie with Buffalo State and/or Fredonia (both currently 9-8), due to tiebreakers. Either way, Cortland will host a SUNYAC quarterfinal game next Tuesday at 8 p.m.
The Cortland-Buffalo State game will be televised on a tape-delayed basis by Time Warner Sports and will air in the Syracuse region on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 1 p.m.
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