CORTLAND, N.Y. – Logan Wendell scored six of his game-high 21 points in overtime as visiting Ithaca defeated Cortland, 85-81, in the season opener for both teams.
Six Cortland players scored in double figures in the setback, led by
Danny Linehan (Blauvelt/Tappan Zee) with 17 points. He made 4-of-8 3-pointers.
Pierre Hajjar (Brussels, Belgium/Victory Rock Prep) hit 3-of-7 shots from the arc and ended with 16 points and five rebounds.
Jaylen Warmack (Utica/Utica Notre Dame) totaled 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists,
Gerrad Beaubrun (Baldwin) recorded 12 points and five rebounds,
Nic Button (Syracuse/Bishop Ludden) scored 11 points and
Kareem Lubin (Monroe/Washingtonville) finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Wendell added five assists to his 21-point evening. Andrew Geschicketer added 15 points, Aidan Holmes scored 13 points and Triston Wennersten and Evan Cabral tallied 10 points apiece. Wennersten led the Bombers with eight rebounds.
Cortland led 34-21 on a Button 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining in the first half, but Ithaca closed the period with five straight points, four by Cole Wissink, and trailed 34-26 at the break. The guests chipped away at Cortland's lead in the second half but didn't actually lead until Wendell hit two foul shots with 1:51 left to put the Bombers up, 69-68. Cortland regained the lead on Lubin's layup with 1:33 left, and again at 72-70 on a Warmack layup with 52 seconds left in regulation. Holmes hit a 3-pointer to give Ithaca a one-point lead with 46 seconds left and Warmack made the second of two free throws with 45 seconds remaining to tie the game. Cortland had a chance to win at the end of regulation, but a Lubin jumper came up just short.
Cortland took a brief lead in overtime on a Beaubrun free throw, but Geschickter hit a 3-pointer with 3:42 left and Ithaca never trailed again. Down by five, Cortland made it a one-possession game on two Warmack free throws with 35 seconds left. After Ithaca missed two foul shots, the Red Dragons had the ball with a chance to tie but turned the ball over with 11 seconds left. Wendell hit the first of two foul shots with eight ticks left to seal Ithaca's win.
Cortland shot 46 percent from the floor compared to 41 percent for Ithaca, but the Red Dragons committed 24 turnovers while Ithaca lost the ball only seven times. Cortland shot 10-of-26 from the 3-point arc (39 percent) and Ithaca was 11-of-26 (42 percent) from long distance.
