GENESEO, N.Y. – Geneseo pulled away from a close game over the final four minutes and the Knights defeated visiting Cortland, 72-65, in a SUNYAC men's basketball matchup.
Cortland (12-11, 9-7 SUNYAC) is in a three-way tie for fourth place in the SUNYAC standings with Oneonta and Plattsburgh, while Geneseo (12-12, 9-8 SUNYAC) is a half game behind that group in seventh place. The top six teams qualify for the SUNYAC playoffs, with the third and fourth-place teams hosting first-round games. Cortland closes out the regular season at home Friday and Saturday versus Buffalo State and Fredonia.
Jaylen Warmack (Utica/Utica Notre Dame) led Cortland with 20 points and four assists and was second on the team with five rebounds.
Kendall Arcuri (Staten Island/St. Joseph by the Sea) registered 17 points and a team-best seven rebounds,
Kareem Lubin (Monroe/Washingtonville) finished with nine points and
Aaron Coston (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley) had seven points, four rebounds and a team-high tying four assists.
Cole Kattan was the best of Geneseo's four double-figure scorers with 19 points. Jackson Casey and Michael Gentile each scored 12 points and Josh Garelle added 11 points. Robert Pericolosi ended with nine points and 15 rebounds. Casey led the Knights with four assists and also grabbe3d six rebounds.
Cortland led 30-18 with under six minutes left in the first half, but the hosts fought back and tied the game at 32-32 at halftime. The teams were close most of the second half, despite the fact that Cortland's last lead came at 44-41 with 13:29 left. The Red Dragons trailed only 56-54 after Arcuri's layup with 4:21 remaining, but Gentile hit a 3-pointer with 3:49 left and, after one Arcuri free throw, Kattan and Garelle hit shots to push the lead to 65-57 with 1:49 remaining. The Geneseo lead was at least five from that point.
Geneseo shot 54 percent in the second half and finished the game at 51 percent. The Knights shot 50 percent (11-of-22) from 3-point range. Cortland finished at 43 percent from the field overall but just 20 percent (6-of-30) from deep.
