OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Cortland men's basketball team battled nationally 10th-ranked Oswego to the wire before losing to the host Lakers, 65-63, as a potential game-winning 3-pointer just missed falling at the buzzer.
Cortland (6-7, 3-3) received all but three of its points from four players.
Kareem Lubin (Monroe/Washingtonville) scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and he hauled in seven rebounds.
Jaylen Warmack (Utica/Utica Notre Dame) scored 19 points and distributed five assists,
Aaron Coston (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley) scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, and
Kendall Arcuri (Staten Island/St. Joseph by the Sea) tallied 10 points. Cortland shot 47 percent from the field.
Oswego (12-1, 6-0) was led by Jeremiah Sparks' 27 points. He also finished with seven rebounds. Jamal Achille scored nine points and Cartier Bowman and Sean Edwards scored eight points apiece. Bowman led the Lakers with nine rebounds. Oswego shot 42 percent from the floor.
Oswego led 27-16 with less than five minutes left in the first half, but Cortland closed to within 32-28 in the final minute and trailed 34-28 at halftime. Down 39-36, Cortland used an Arcuri 3-pointer, Coston layup and Lubin trey to take its largest lead of the day at 44-39 early in the second quarter.
The hosts came back and eventually built a 59-51 lead with five minutes left. Down by seven, Cortland cut its deficit to three on a Warmack bucket with less than two minutes left and a Lubin putback in the final minute. Sparks hit two free throws to make it 63-58, but
TayShaun Hawkins (Riverhead) nailed a 3-pointer from straight on to bring Cortland to within two with 28 seconds left.
Sparks made two more free throws to push the Oswego lead to four. Lubin hit a layup to again bring Cortland within two and the Red Dragons fouled with less than seven seconds left. Oswego missed both free throws and Cortland controlled the rebound and raced downcourt. Arcuri pump faked from the left wing in 3-point territory and took a shot that banked off the glass, started to go down but then popped out at the buzzer.
