ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Six Cortland players scored in double figures as the Red Dragons defeated nationally 20th-ranked Baldwin-Wallace College, 87-84, in the third-place game of the Rochester Holiday Inn Airport Invitational. Rochester defeated Ohio Wesleyan, 76-69, in the championship game.

 

Junior Carson Niehoff (West Islip) led Cortland (3-1) with 19 points and also recorded four assists. Sophomore Mike Lewis (Central Square) finished with 16 points and seven rebounds and junior Juan Miolan (Troy) scored 13 points, including three shots from three-point range.

 

Sophomore Paul Oliver (Phoenix/John C. Birdlebough) added 12 points, two blocks and a game-high 11 rebounds. Sophomore Will Coston (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley) also scored 12 points and senior Mark Schaller (Rochester/Greece Athena) totaled 10 points and three assists. Senior Derrick Fish (Locust Valley) led the Red Dragons with five assists.

 

Oliver was named to the all-tournament team. He scored 25 points on 12-of-17 shooting in Cortland's two games at the tournament.

 

Kyle Brown led the Yellow Jackets (1-3) with 31 points and six rebounds. He made 11-of-20 shots, including 4-of-8 three-pointers. Tyler Sekerak scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds and Brendan Schuler tallied 10 points and dished out seven assists.

 

Cortland outscored Baldwin-Wallace 13-2 over the final 3:18 of the first half to take a 44-36 halftime lead. The Red Dragons were up as much as 10 points in the second half, but the Yellow Jackets fought back and led 70-68 with 7:42 remaining. Oliver scored Cortland's next six points to help the Red Dragons regain the lead, and Niehoff's two free throws with 4:37 left extended the advantage to 76-72.

 

Sekerak nailed a three-pointer with 4:13 left to bring Baldwin-Wallace within one and Brown's two free throws with 2:57 left gave the Yellow Jackets their final lead at 77-76.

 

Coston made a three-pointer with 2:42 left to put the Red Dragons back ahead at 79-77, and Niehoff hit one of two free throws with 1:23 remaining to push the lead to three. Schuler's layup at the 1:03 mark reduced Cortland's lead back to one. Cortland missed a shot on its next possession, but the Red Dragons retained possession on a team offensive rebound with 35 seconds left.

 

Schaller was then fouled and made his first free throw. He missed the second, but an Oliver offensive rebound kept the ball in Cortland's hands. Niehoff's two free throws with 24 seconds left increased the lead to 83-79. Schuler made two free throws with 19 seconds left to keep Baldwin-Wallace within two, but Niehoff sank a pair of foul shots with 12 seconds left and Lewis added two charity tosses with four seconds left. A Sekerak three-pointer at the buzzer created the final margin.