CORTLAND, N.Y. – Senior
Jesse Winter (Rockville Centre/South Side) recorded 17 of his team-high 20 points in the first half and finished as one of five Cortland double-figure scorers as the Red Dragons defeated Buffalo State, 100-89. Cortland is now 9-3 overall and 3-2 in the SUNYAC, while Buffalo State falls to 8-3 and 3-2.
Winter made 8-of-12 shots from the field and added five assists and two steals. Senior
Jeremy Smith (Bronx/Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy) scored 18 points and senior
Brian Manning (Elmira/Southside) finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Manning made 4-of-7 three-pointers.
Junior
Kevin McMahon (Hoosick Falls) scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and sophomore
Lamard Herron (Westbury) totaled 10 points and three steals. Senior
Harrison Hefele (Greenlawn/Friends Academy) grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds and dished out a team-best six assists.
Roderick Epps, who entered the game ranked 14th nationally in Div. III with 24.1 points per game, basically matched his average with 24 points for the Bengals. He made three three-pointers and hauled in five rebounds. Anthony Hamer scored 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting and added three assists and Chris Boyd scored 10 points in just seven minutes off the bench.
Cortland used a 7-0 run to turn a 30-23 lead with eight minutes left in the first half into a 37-23 advantage with 6:33 left. The Red Dragons led 54-38 at halftime and by 23 points at 65-42 after a McMahon layup with 17:03 remaining.
A 15-6 run by the Bengals closed Cortland's lead to 71-58 with 12:10 left, but the hosts went on a 14-4 run over the next four minutes to take a 23-point lead. The Red Dragons led by 28 points at 98-70 after a
Nate Burgo (Binghamton/Maine-Endwell) tip-in with 1:59 left and eventually hit the century mark on two foul shots by freshman
Tommy Torto (Binghamton/Seton Catholic) with 32 seconds left. Buffalo State outscored Cortland 19-2 after Burgo's tip-in to create the final 11-point margin.
Cortland will host Fredonia in a SUNYAC matchup Saturday at 4 p.m.
Box Score/Play-by-Play
