GENESEO, N.Y. – Cortland cut a 19-point deficit to five over the final seven minutes but couldn't get any closer as the Red Dragons lost at Geneseo, 76-70, in a SUNYAC men's basketball game.
Austin Grunder (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Red Dragons (3-5, 1-3 SUNYAC).
Danny Linehan (Blauvelt/Tappan Zee) scored all of his team-high 17 points in the second half, with 15 of those coming during the final six minutes.
Eric Edwards (Binghamton) scored 14 points and handed out three assists, and
Humberto Cabrera (Millbrook) scored nine points and led the Red Dragons with four assists.
Geneseo (4-3, 3-0 SUNYAC) was led by Cole Kattan with 19 points in 17 minutes off the bench. He shot 7-of-9 from the field and made all three of his 3-point attempts. Michael Gannon finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, Terrance Nichols scored 11 points, and Harrison Dignan registered 12 assists and five steals.
Geneseo shot 52 percent from the floor in each half and was 11-for-22 from the 3-point arc. Cortland finished at 46 percent overall and 33 percent (9-of-27) from long distance.
The first half featured five ties and three lead changes. Cortland led by as much as seven points during the half before Geneseo came back and eventually took a 41-38 lead at intermission.
The Knights built their lead into double figures less than six minutes into the second half, but Cortland was back within seven at 56-49 on a Cabrera layup with 12:04 remaining. Geneseo, however, scored 12 straight points over the next five minutes, seven by Kattan, and led 68-49 at the 7:09 mark.
Cortland closed the margin to 11 at 70-59 on a Linehan 3-pointer with 2:45 left, but Ethan St. Lucia hit a jumper with 2:19 on the clock to make it a 13-point game. Linehan hit a trey with 2:07 left to cut the deficit to 10, and neither team scored again until Linehan hit another 3-pointer, was fouled, and made the ensuing free throw to make it 72-66 with 39 seconds left. Cortland eventually got as close as five points twice in the last 20 seconds, but Geneseo made three of its last four free throws to squelch the comeback bid.
Cortland is idle until Dec. 18 when it will travel to Cobleskill for a 1 p.m. non-league game.
