UTICA, N.Y. – Senior Brian Manning (Elmira/Southside) led six Cortland double-figure scorers with 25 points as the Red Dragons defeated Utica College, 97-84. Cortland improves to 2-0 on the season. Utica was playing its season opener.

Manning hit 6-of-9 three-pointers and 8-of-11 shots from the floor overall. He also registered four rebounds and three assists. Senior Jesse Winter (Rockville Centre/South Side) finished with 16 points, a career-high 10 assists and three steals and senior Jeremy Smith (Bronx/Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy) totaled 14 points, four rebounds and three steals and matched his career high with seven assists. Winter and Smith each made three shots from the three-point arc.

Junior Kevin McMahon (Hoosick Falls) connected on 6-of-8 shots from the floor. He finished with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Sophomore Lamard Herron (Westbury) added 11 points and six rebounds and senior Harrison Hefele (Greenlawn/Friends Academy) scored 10 points and grabbed four boards.

Connor Maisch led Utica with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He made 6-of-9 three-pointers. Jeff Ward scored 17 points, Chris Jeffers finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Matt Baldwin scored 11 points and pulled down six rebounds.

Cortland shot 67 percent from the floor in the second half (18-of-27) and 54 percent for the game. The host Pioneers finished at 42 percent from the field.

The Red Dragons finished the last four minutes of the first half with an 8-0 run to take a 47-36 lead at the break. Utica briefly closed to within six at 49-43 with 17:51 left in the game, but a McMahon jumper and three-point play pushed the lead to 11 with 16:42 remaining.

The lead was still 11 at 61-50 with 13:39 left when Manning nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give Cortland a 17-point advantage. The Red Dragons led by as much as 23 points with 4:08 left before Utica finished the game with an 18-8 run.

Cortland will host Ithaca on Tuesday, Nov. 27, at 8 p.m.

Box Score/Play-by-Play