CORTLAND, N.Y. – Senior
Lamard Herron (Westbury) scored 19 points and matched his career high with seven assists as Cortland defeated visiting Geneseo, 70-60, for its third straight victory.
Herron made 7-of-13 shots from the field and was the lone double-figure scorer for the Red Dragons (11-3, 5-3 SUNYAC). Junior
Blair Estarfaa (Buffalo/Maryvale) scored nine points on three 3-pointers, all in the second half.
Four Red Dragons – junior
T.J. Hefele (Greenlawn/Friends Academy), senior
Matt McGowan (Lake George), junior
Shayne Martinez (West Haverstraw/North Rockland) and freshman
Justin Prendergast (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) finished with seven points apiece.
Andy Drescher led Geneseo (8-6, 4-3 SUNYAC) with 20 points. He made 5-of-8 shots from 3-point range. Gordon Lyons recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds and James McKenna scored 14 points and added five assists and three steals.
Geneseo led 32-27 at halftime as the Knights shot 46 percent in the opening half compared to 37 percent for Cortland. The Red Dragons made only 2-of-14 3-pointers in the first half. Cortland, however, shot 57 percent from the floor in the second half, including 6-of-11 from downtown, while Geneseo hit only 29 percent of its second-half shots.
Cortland opened the second half on a 12-1 run that featured all seven of Martinez's points and the Red Dragons led 39-33 with 14:55 left. Geneseo regained the lead at 44-43 on a Drescher 3-pointer with 10:59 left and held its final lead at 48-47 on two McKenna free throws with 7:57 left.
Estarfaa drained a three at the 7:06 mark, but Lyons knotted the game with two free throws with 6:17 left. Cortland took the lead for good at 53-50 on a
Michael Kelly (Monroe/Burke Catholic) 3-pointer with 5:57 remaining. That shot started a run that also featured a Herron steal and dunk and two Estarfaa 3-pointers, and Prendergast's foul shot with 3:06 left put Cortland ahead 62-52.
Geneseo got within five at 62-57 on Lyons' layup with 1:25 left but Cortland iced the game by hitting its last eight free throws – four each by Hefele and Herron.
Cortland will play a non-league game at Elmira on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Box Score/Play-by-Play
