BUFFALO, N.Y. - Senior Carson Niehoff (West Islip) scored 21 points and also recorded six assists and six rebounds as Cortland, seeded seventh in the eight-team SUNYAC Men's Basketball Tournament, upset second seed Buffalo State, 68-65.

The Red Dragons (12-14) will face fifth-seeded Fredonia in the semifinals Friday at 6 p.m. at SUNY Oswego. The other semifinal Friday will feature third-seeded Oswego and eighth-seeded Brockport, with the championship game set for 4 p.m. Saturday at Oswego.

Junior Mike Lewis (Brewerton/Central Square) finished with 18 points and five rebounds and senior Juan Miolan (Troy) scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out a career-high eight assists. Junior Paul Oliver (Phoenix) added eight points and 10 rebounds and sophomore Ron Evans (New Hartford) scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds as Cortland's starters accounted for 65 of the team's 68 points.

Jamar Gray led Buffalo State (14-11) with 15 points and seven assists. A.J. White finished with 14 points and eight rebounds and James Tyndal scored 11 points.

Cortland shot 53 percent from the floor (27-of-51) compared to just 34 percent (23-of-68) for the Bengals. The hosts stayed close by hitting 15-of-22 free throws, while Cortland made just 8-of-14 attempts, and committing only 11 turnovers to Cortland's 21.

Neither team led by more than five points for the first 31 minutes of the contest. Cortland led 38-36 at halftime, but the Bengals scored the first two buckets of the second half to take a 40-38 lead. Oliver tied the game at the 16:48 mark and Niehoff's three-pointer with 15:42 left put the Red Dragons ahead to stay.

Cortland's lead eventually grew to as much as nine at 55-46 on an Evans three-pointer with 8:25 left and was still nine with seven minutes remaining. Buffalo State, however, drew back within 59-57 with 2:42 remaining on a Norman Simmons free throw, but baskets by Niehoff and Miolan pushed the lead back to six with two minutes left.

White nailed two treys, sandwiched around a Lewis layup, and the hosts trailed 65-63 with 1:15 left. Cortland missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 49 seconds left, got the offensive rebound but turned the ball over. White, however, missed a shot with 32 seconds on the clock with a chance to tie.

Cortland gave the Bengals another chance after missing another free throw with 27 seconds left. Gray's jumper was off the mark with 15 ticks left, and Miolan scored on a breakway layup off an Evans feed with seven seconds remaining to put Cortland up four. He was also fouled on the play and sank the free throw to give the Red Dragons a 68-63 lead. A tip-in by Buffalo State with a second left finished the scoring.

Box Score