SUNYAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
#6 ONEONTA RED DRAGONS AT #3 CORTLAND RED DRAGONS
Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 – 7:00 p.m.
Corey Gymnasium – Cortland, NY

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-Cash Only
-All tickets $5.00
-SUNYAC students with ID are free

THE MATCHUP… Third-seeded Cortland hosts sixth-seeded Oneonta in the first round of the 2024 SUNYAC Men's Basketball Tournament.
 
This will be the 38th meeting of the sides since 2007, with Cortland holding a slim 19-18 edge in the previous 37 matchups. Following a stretch from 2019 to 2023 where Oneonta won seven straight, Cortland has been victorious in four of the last five meetings of the sides.
 
The sides also met in the SUNYAC Tournament three times in the past 15 years, in 2010, 2018 and 2019. Oneonta defeated Cortland in the conference semifinals in 2010 by a score of 66-55, and took down Cortland in the first round in 2018, 60-57, and also in the first round of 2019, 84-71.   
 
Cortland is appearing in the SUNYAC Tournament for the 34th time in the last 36 seasons, and for the second time in two years under head coach Maurice Kearney. The Red Dragons are in search of a seventh conference title, and first since 2015-16.
 
Oneonta has not yet won a SUNYAC title in its program history, but has now reached the conference tournament in each of its eight seasons under head coach Cameron Conover. Oneonta has also made three conference championship game appearances in that time, in 2017, 2018, and 2022.

LAST TIME WE MET… Aaron Coston (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley) led four Cortland double-figure scorers with 25 points and added 10 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots as the Red Dragons fought past visiting Oneonta, 69-61, in the last meeting of the sides on February 14th.
  
Coston scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half. He finished the game 10-of-16 from the field. Joel Davis (Watertown) also turned in a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Kendall Arcuri (Staten Island/St. Joseph by-the-Sea) scored 18 points and pulled down eight rebounds and Kendrick Wilson (Wheatley Heights/Moravian Prep (NC)) added 10 points.
 
Kobe Long paced Oneonta with 22 points, including 6-of-13 from 3-point range. Zyeir Lawrence registered 16 points and nine rebounds and Elijah Castillo scored 12 points.
 
Cortland led by 10 points midway through the first half, but Oneonta came back and led 34-27 at halftime after a buzzer-beating trey by Long. Cortland tied the game about three minutes into the second half, and the game remained tight from that point forward.
 
Oneonta led 53-51 with 8:44 left, but Cortland scored the next six points, two by Coston and four by Davis, to go up 57-53 with 5:53 remaining. Oneonta pulled within two before Coston hit a layup with 4:32 left and Wilson nailed a 3-pointer with 2:18 left to push Cortland's lead to 62-55. The lead was eight before two baskets by the guests made it 63-59 with 53 seconds left. Wilson helped seal the win with two free throws with 37 seconds left and a steal and layup with 23 seconds remaining. Coston closed Cortland's scoring with two foul shots with 14 seconds left and Oneonta hit two free throws to create the final margin.

THE CORTLAND CAPSULE… Cortland enters the conference tournament with a 14-11 overall record, including a 13-5 mark in SUNYAC play.
 
The Red Dragons started the season slowly, posting a 2-5 overall record in the fall semester, mostly in non-conference action. Cortland earned its first conference victory on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Coston for a 64-63 home win over Plattsburgh.  
 
After a pair of losses in the first weekend of January at the Middlebury Invitational, the Red Dragons rattled off wins in seven of the next eight games, pulling into sole possession of first place in the conference. After a loss on the road at Plattsburgh, Cortland won four more games in a row to move to 13-9 on the year. Cortland then dropped back-to-back contests to top-seeded New Paltz and second-seeded Oswego, before closing the regular season with a 67-52 road win over Canton on Saturday afternoon.
 
As a team, Cortland is averaging 67.8 points per game. The Red Dragons are led on the offensive end by Kendall Arcuri, who averages 14.3 points per game. Right behind him is Aaron Coston at 14.0 points per game. Joel Davis is the third Red Dragon to average double-digit points for the season at 10.4 points per game, while Isaiah Austin (Albany) chips in 9.9 points per game.
 
Defense has been the strong suit to this Cortland team, allowing an average of 65.9 points per game, tops in the SUNYAC and 37th in the nation. The Red Dragons are also holding opposing offenses to just 40.4% from the field to lead the conference. Opponents also shoot only 28.6% from 3-point range, best in the SUNYAC and the 19th best-mark in the nation.

TRIPLE THREAT… Cortland shoots an average of 27.3 3-point attempts per game for the season, the most in the conference, and shoots triples at a 32.6% clip. The Red Dragons are also 9-1 in games that the team shoots 34.0% or better from beyond the arc.  
 
MR. DOUBLE-DOUBLE… Joel Davis has recorded nine double-doubles on the season so far, tied for the conference lead and 39th in the country. Averaging 10.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, Joel could join Austin Grunder as the second Cortland player in the last 10 seasons to average in double figures in points and rebounds for an entire season. Grunder accomplished the feat in three consecutive seasons (2019-20, 21-23). 
 
SWING THE ROCK… Cortland is 10-1 in games with 14 assists or more as a team. In those games, the Red Dragons win by an average of 11.9 points per game.
 
BLOCK PARTY… Joel Davis leads the team in blocks with 37 on the year, and has at least one block in 18-of-22 games played. Aaron Coston has 30 blocks on the season, second on the team. The junior has also registered at least one block in each of the last 12 games for the Red Dragons.
 
BENCH BOOST… Kendrick Wilson has six double-digit scoring games this season, coming off the bench in five of those six performances. He came off the bench and scored a career-high 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc in a victory over Canton on Saturday.
 
RECORD-TYING NIGHT… Isaiah Austin tied Dave Maggiacomo's Cortland single-game record with 10 3-pointers made in a 90-66 home victory over Fredonia. The junior went 10-of-17 from beyond the arc in the game and finished with 40 points, becoming just the 12th player in program history to score 40 or more points in a game.  

SUNYAC WEEKLY WINNERS… Cortland has claimed SUNYAC weekly awards three times this season. Kendall Arcuri was selected as the conference's athlete of the week twice, while Joel Davis earned the honor one time.
 
RESEARCHING THE OTHER RED DRAGONS… Oneonta finished the regular season with a 14-11 overall record and was 9-9 in SUNYAC play. The Red Dragons come into Tuesday's contest having lost their last three games, all on the road, to Cortland, Morrisville, and New Paltz.   
 
Oneonta is near the middle of the pack in the SUNYAC in scoring averages, sitting fourth in scoring defense at 71.0 points allowed per game, and sixth in scoring offense at 72.6 points per game. Oneonta is led offensively by Kobe Long, who averages 16.1 points per game to rank fourth in the SUNYAC. The Red Dragons have just one other player who averages in double figures, Elijah Castillo at 13.0 points per game, but Cam LaClair and Zyeir Lawrence average 9.5 and 9.1 points per game, respectively.  
 
The Red Dragons excel at drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line, averaging 25.4 free throw attempts per game to lead the conference and rank 11th in the nation. Even more, Oneonta is making the sixth-most free throws in the country at 18.6 free throws made per game, largely due to a 73.2% clip at the charity stripe.  

SCHEDULES/RESULTS (click team to access online schedules)…

CORTLAND RED DRAGONS: 14-11 (13-5 SUNYAC) 

ONEONTA RED DRAGONS: 14-11 (9-9 SUNYAC)