ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RPI scored seven straight points with less than three minutes remaining after Cortland battled to tie the game and the Engineers defeated the Red Dragons, 55-49, in the opening round of the Nazareth College Mike Daley Men's Basketball Tournament.
 
Cortland (0-1) will face Potsdam in the third-place game Saturday at 1 p.m.; it will be a non-league game against their SUNYAC foe. RPI (1-0) will play Nazareth in the title game Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
Kendall Arcuri (Staten Island/St. Joseph by-the-Sea) and Aaron Coston (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley) led Cortland with 14 points apiece and Joel Davis (Watertown) added 10 points. Arcuri hit 5-of-9 shots, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Coston was 3-of-5 from the arc. Davis led the Red Dragons with seven rebounds, Arcuri grabbed six boards and Coston had five rebounds. Gaige Armbrewster (Oakfield/Oakfield-Alabama) dished out three assists.
 
Dylan Matchett led RPI with 12 points and Chuck Clemons had 10 points. Avery Eugster recorded seven points and seven rebounds.
 
Cortland held the lead only twice, the last time at 14-13 with 11:19 left in the first half. The Engineers scored 11 straight points over the next four minutes to take a 24-14 lead and they led 31-24 at halftime.
 
Cortland stayed close most of the second half and eventually tied the game at 46-46 on two Coston free throws with 3:15 remaining. Eugster made one free throw with 2:59 left and Matchett hit a foul shot at the 2:04 mark, and an Andrew Deppe layup with 1:47 left put RPI up 50-46. PJ Scalisi hit a free throw with 31 seconds left and Clemons added two charity tosses with 18 seconds left to push the margin to seven. Coston hit a 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds to cut the Red Dragons' deficit to four before Matchett closed the scoring with two foul shots.