CORTLAND, N.Y. - Austin Grunder (Trumansburg) scored 20 points and pulled down 16 rebounds and Cam Williams (Rome/Rome Free Academy) finished with 20 points and nine rebounds as Cortland edged visiting New Paltz, 74-71, in SUNYAC men's basketball action.
 
Cortland (16-6, 11-4 SUNYAC) won its fourth straight game and remained in third place in the league standings. The Red Dragons are a game and a half behind second-place Brockport (12-2) and a game and a half ahead of fourth-place Oneonta (9-6). New Paltz (10-10, 8-6) is fifth in the conference, a game up on sixth-place Geneseo (7-7).
 
Grunder and Williams each finished 7-for-16 from the floor. Grunder hit 5-of-7 free throws, and 15 of his 16 rebounds were on the defensive glass. Williams made 5-of-11 shots from 3-point range. He matched his career high in scoring as well as setting a new career best with nine rebounds.
 
Aaron Coston (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley) finished with 14 points and a career-best three blocked shots. Kendall Arcuri (Staten Island/St. Joseph by the Sea) scored 11 points, led the Red Dragons with five assists, and set a career best with seven rebounds. He hit three of his four 3-point attempts. Isaiah Preston (Penfield) contributed five points and three assists.
 
Five New Paltz players scored in double figures, led by Lucas Seyoum with 15 points and Sean St. Lucia with 12 points. Rylan Blondo and Isaiah Bien-Aise each scored 11 points and Jonah Bevacqua tallied 10 points. Seyoum was 6-for-6 from the field with three 3-pointers. Bien-Aise led the Hawks with 13 rebounds and three steals, Blondo finished with five assists and six rebounds, and St. Lucia dished out four assists.
 
Cortland led 17-8 eight minutes into the game, but New Paltz came back and eventually took a 34-33 lead on a St. Lucia 3-pointer with 3:29 left in the half. The teams were tied 40-40 at halftime after Cal Shifflet (Buffalo/Williamsville East) hit a jumper as time expired.
 
Coston hit a layup 45 seconds into the second half to give Cortland a lead that it never relinquished. The Red Dragons led 69-61 with 5:33 remaining before New Paltz fought back to as close as two points at 71-69 on two Bien-Aise free throws with 1:32 left. Coston's jumper in the paint pushed the lead to four with 1:13 left, and Williams drew a charge with 58.8 seconds remaining to give the Red Dragons the ball back.
 
Blondo made a diving steal off an inbounds pass in the Cortland frontcourt with 39 seconds left, but the Hawks missed two shots on their ensuing trip down the floor. Grunder made one free throw with 17.8 seconds left to extend the lead to five. Seyoum's runner with seven seconds left made it a 3-point game, and New Paltz nearly got a steal on the following inbounds pass but Cortland was able to call timeout after gathering in a loose ball in the key with 3.8 seconds left. Cortland missed a free throw with two seconds remaining, but the Hawks, out of timeouts, were only able to throw up a long desperation shot that came up well short.
 
Prior to the game, Cortland honored seven seniors - Grunder, Williams, Preston, Humberto Cabrera (Millbrook), Riley McEvoy (Homer), Teemu Tumanoff (Vantaa, Finland/Miller School of Albemarle) and AJ Lawton (Saratoga). With cooperation from New Paltz, Cortland honored Lawton by arranging for him to start and make the game's first basket. Lawton suffered a season-ending injury in the second game of the year. New Paltz was then allowed to score an uncontested basket to tie the game at 2-2, and Cortland called a timeout at that point to sub for Lawton.
 
Cortland returns to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. at SUNYAC leader and nationally 13th-ranked Oswego. The women's game has been moved to 6 p.m. and will follow the men's game.