CORTLAND, N.Y. – Sophomore
Mike Lewis (Central Square) scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and senior
Derrick Fish (Locust Valley) tied a school single-game record with 12 assists as Cortland held off Morrisville, 70-63, in a SUNYAC contest.
Lewis also finished with a game-high 12 rebounds and blocked three shots for the Red Dragons (15-3, 8-1), who have won 10 of their last 11 games. Junior
Carson Niehoff (West Islip) also recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in addition to four blocked shots. Sophomore
Will Coston (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley) added 12 points.
Fish registered nine of his 12 assists in the second half. He tied the school record previously set by both Jay Crosier versus Utica/Rome (now SUNYIT) in the 1991-92 season and Jason Thomas versus Staten Island in the 1993-94 season.
Wesley Jackson (Utica/Proctor) led Morrisville (4-12, 1-9) with 17 points and five assists. Taylor Foster (White Plains/Westlake Georgia) scored 12 points and dished out four assists and Dodrick Spencer (Brooklyn/William & Grady) finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Cortland led 24-21 at halftime, with neither team shooting well in the period. Morrisville was held to 21 percent from the floor, but Cortland managed to hit on only 27 percent of its shots. The second half was a different story, however, as Cortland made 58 percent of its shots and the Mustangs made 44 percent, including 47 percent (8-of-17) from three-point range.
Morrisville seemed poised for the upset when Jackson's layup with 8:33 left gave the Mustangs a 56-51 lead. Cortland responded with nine straight points, the last seven by Lewis, and led 60-56 with 5:50 left.
The guests closed to within a point twice in the last five minutes. Jackson's three-pointer with 2;56 left cut Cortland's lead to 63-62, and the Mustangs missed a layup with 2:09 left still down a point. Lewis sank two free throws with 1:45 remaining, but Morrisville got a point back on a Adebowale Olasokan (Brooklyn/Boys & Girls) free throw with 1:38 left. Following a Cortland miss, the Mustangs had a shot to take the lead but a Jackson trey missed the mark with 51 seconds left.
Morrisville grabbed the rebound after the Jackson miss, but Olasokan missed a shot with 35 seconds remaining. Cortland broke up the court following the rebound and Fish connected with Coston for an easy layup at the 27-second mark to tie the assist record and give Cortland a four-point lead. Niehoff made three free throws in the final 16 seconds to finish the scoring.
