BUFFALO, N.Y. – Jake Simmons scored 22 points and Justin Mitchell added 15 points as second-seeded Buffalo State defeated seventh-seeded Cortland, 75-56, in the SUNYAC men's basketball tournament quarterfinals.

Buffalo State (19-6) will face third-seeded Plattsburgh in the semifinals Friday at 6 p.m. at top-seeded Oswego. The host Lakers will play fourth-seeded Brockport Friday at 8 p.m., with the title game set for Saturday at 4 p.m.

Sophomore Jesse Winter (Rockville Centre/South Side) scored 18 points and dished out four assists for seventh-seeded Cortland, which finishes the season 10-16. Sophomore Jeremy Smith (Bronx/Riverdale Kingsbridge) scored 12 points, sophomore Harrison Hefele (Greenlawn/Friends Academy) added 10 points and three steals and freshman Kevin McMahon (Hoosick Falls) scored nine points and pulled down a team-high six rebounds.

Simmons finished with six rebounds in addition to his 22 points. He hit 10-of-18 shots from the field. Ahmed Nagaya led the Bengals with eight rebounds, while Mitchell and Glenroy Carr grabbed seven boards each. Carr and Chris Cartwright scored nine points apiece.

Buffalo State led 12-0 four minutes into the game and held a 25-8 advantage with 8:17 left in the half. The Bengals were up by 20 points with 5:11 remaining and took a 32-16 lead into the locker room at intermission. Cortland shot only 25 percent from the floor and was 0-for-9 from three-point range in the first half.

Trailing 39-16 just more than two minutes into the second half, Cortland mounted a rally to make things interesting. The Red Dragons scored 14 of the game's next 15 points, including seven points by Smith, and were down only 40-30 with 14:56 remaining. The Bengals, however, never let their lead slip below double digits. Cortland was within 10 points four more times, the last at 55-45 with 7:45 left, but Simmons scored five straight to increase the lead to 15. The Red Dragons closed within 68-56 on a Winter layup with three minutes left before the hosts closed the game with seven straight points.

Cortland was making its 22nd SUNYAC tournament appearance in the last 23 years. The Red Dragons were eliminated in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2008.

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