SUNYAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT 
Friday, Feb. 27, 2026 – Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026
Corey Gymnasium – Cortland, NY

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE…
Friday, Feb. 27:
SEMIFINAL 1 – 5:30 p.m.: #3 OSWEGO LAKERS VS. #2 ONEONTA RED DRAGONS
SEMIFINAL 2 – 7:30 p.m.: #5 PLATTSBURGH CARDINALS AT #1 CORTLAND RED DRAGONS
Saturday, Feb. 28:
FINALS – 4:00 p.m.: SEMIFINAL 1 WINNER VS SEMIFINAL 2 WINNER

FOLLOW ALONG…
LIVE STATS
VIDEO

TICKET AND SPECTATOR INFORMATION...
-Online Ticketing ONLY – ONLINE TICKETING LINK
-Adults - $6 ($5 plus $1 service charge) 
-Children Ages 5-17 - $4 ($3 plus $1 service charge)
-SUNYAC students with ID are free 
-Doors will open approximately one hour prior to the start of the first semifinal

SEMIFINAL MATCHUP… Top-seeded Cortland's title defense begins on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Corey Gymnasium, as the Red Dragons host fifth-seeded Plattsburgh in the semifinals of the 2025-26 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Men's Basketball Tournament.
 
Cortland clinched the SUNYAC regular-season title and the right to host the semifinals and finals of the SUNYAC tournament by finishing with a 17-1 record in league play during the regular season. As one of the top two seeds in the conference tournament, the Red Dragons also earned a bye into the conference semifinals.
 
Plattsburgh advanced to Friday's semifinal round with a 97-88 overtime victory on the road at fourth-seeded New Paltz on Tuesday evening. The Cardinals had four players score over 20 points in the victory. Mari Johnson led the team with a career-high 22 points, while Reem Welch and Kahlil Screen each added 21 points and Elijah Morris chipped in 20 points.
Cortland holds a 23-15 edge over Plattsburgh since 2008, including 11 of the last 12 meetings of the sides dating back to 2020. Cortland has also been victorious in each of the last seven games against Plattsburgh in Corey Gymnasium.  
 
The teams have faced off in the conference tournament three times in the last 15 years, and Cortland has won each of those three meetings. The Red Dragons won 78-77 in overtime in the first round of the conference tournament in 2023-24, with Kendall Arcuri (Staten Island/St. Joseph-by-the-Sea) hitting the game-winning 3-pointer as time expired to give the Red Dragons the win. Cortland also defeated Plattsburgh by a 75-61 score in the championship game in 2013, as well as a 75-60 final in the quarterfinals in 2012.
 
The Red Dragons are in search of an eighth conference title, and what would be the first back-to-back conference championships in program history after winning the conference tournament at New Paltz last season. Cortland is making its 35th conference tournament appearance in the last 37 seasons.
 
Plattsburgh has also won seven SUNYAC titles in its program history. The Cardinals were last crowned as conference champions in the 2017-18 season, and are making their third straight appearance in the conference tournament.
 
THE PATH FORWARD… The winner of Friday's semifinal between Plattsburgh and Cortland will advance to face the winner of the other semifinal that features third-seeded Oswego and second-seeded Oneonta for a 5:30 p.m. tip in Corey Gymnasium.
 
Regardless of the teams who advance, the championship game will be hosted in Cortland on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
Oneonta also earned a bye into the semifinals as the second seed after the regular season. The Red Dragons are looking for their first conference title in program history. Oswego earned a semifinal berth after a convincing home victory over sixth-seeded Morrisville on Tuesday evening. The Lakers will look to win an 11th conference title, with six of the previous 10 conference championships coming in the last 13 seasons under head coach Jason Leone, most recently in the 2022-23 season.

The winner of the conference championship tournament will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Div. III playoffs.
 
SUNYAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET
 
LAST TIME WE MET… Cortland outscored Plattsburgh 32-6 in just over 11 minutes of game action from late in the first half until midway through the second half to erase an 11-point deficit on the way to an 81-62 home victory in the last meeting of the teams on February 6, 2026.
  
Kendall Arcuri led Cortland with a season-high 24 points, including a career-best seven 3-pointers. He shot 7-of-8 from the arc and 8-of-10 from the field overall, and he added four assists and four rebounds. Xavier Leveille (Blauvelt/Tappan Zee) hit a career-best five 3-pointers in seven tries and ended with 15 points. Joel Davis (Watertown) finished with 14 points (7-of-13 shooting), seven rebounds and two blocks, and Nolan Raymond (Queens Village/Vermont Academy) made four treys and ended with 12 points, a career-best six assists and a career-high tying six rebounds.
 
Reem Welch led Plattsburgh with 36 points on 13-of-26 shooting and he gathered in seven rebounds. Welch entered the game ranked second nationally in Division III in scoring at 25.9 points per contest. David McKnight Jr. tallied 10 points and Mari Johnson hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Cortland trailed most of the first half and was down by 11 points twice, the last at 34-23 with 2:02 left in the period. The Red Dragons got within 34-26 at halftime and opened the second half on a 16-0 run to take a 42-34 lead with 14:43 left. Arcuri scored seven points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer, and Davis scored four points during that opening run.
 
Cortland completed its 32-6 streak on a Leveille 3-pointer with 10:48 remaining to go up 55-40. The lead remained in double digits after that.
 
After shooting just 29 percent (10-of-35) in the first half, including 6-of-24 from the arc, Cortland exploded to shoot 56 percent (20-of-36) overall and 60 percent (12-of-20) from deep in the second half. Conversely, Plattsburgh shot 44 percent in the first half (6-of-14 from 3-point range), but only 25 percent overall and 2-of-15 from the arc in the second half.
 
THE CORTLAND CAPSULE…  Cortland began the season with a 74-69 defeat at Rochester, but rattled off six consecutive victories that included wins over Farmingdale and Saint Joseph) to win the Farmingdale Classic. The Red Dragons also began SUNYAC play with a double-overtime thriller over Oswego and a convincing victory over Canton the following day.
 
After Christmas, Cortland traveled to Daytona Beach for the Florida Sunshine Shootout, dropping a pair of contests to Dubuque and Gustavus Adolphus to close out the 2025 year.
 
Cortland won its first two conference games of 2026, before suffering a 79-75 defeat to Oneonta for its only blemish on its conference record for the season.
 
Since the loss to Oneonta on January 10th, Cortland has rattled off 13 straight wins to finish the regular season with a 21-4 record and a 17-1 league mark, with 11 of the 13 victories coming by 10 points or more, and the smallest margin of victory during the run for the Red Dragons was a five-point win on the road at Plattsburgh.
 
Cortland has three players averaging in double figures for the season – Aaron Coston (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley), Kendall Arcuri, and Isaiah Austin (Albany). Joel Davis (Watertown) is also just below 10 points a game, averaging 9.9 per game.
 
The Red Dragons average 77.8 points per game, and have scored 85 points or more in seven contests. For the year, the team is shooting at a 46.0% clip from the floor, including 36.7% from downtown. On the other side of the ball, Cortland is allowing just 61.2 points per game on only 38.2% from the floor, and its 8.2 rebounding margin has helped to limit second chances for opponents, with each of Coston, Davis, and Arcuri grabbing seven or more rebounds per game.
 
SKY-HIGH PERCENTAGE…  Aaron Coston scored in double digits in 19-of-25 games and had five 20-point performances during the regular season for Cortland, and a major reason for this success was his efficiency. Coston is shoot 59.5% from the field (135-of-227), ranking first in the SUNYAC and 29th nationally in field goal percentage.
 
HOLD THEM DOWN…  Cortland is holding opponents to just 61.2 points per game, the top mark in the conference and tied for sixth in the nation. Cortland is also tops in the SUNYAC in defensive field goal percentage, allowing opponents to shoot just 38.3% from the field, a mark that is also sixth in the country.
 
HOLD THE ROCK, SWING THE ROCK…  Cortland leads the SUNYAC with a 1.32 assist-to-turnover ratio for the year. The Red Dragons average 16.0 assists per game to lead the conference and average the second-fewest turnovers in the league at just 12.2 per game. Of 691 made baskets for Cortland, 400 of those have been assisted for a percentage of 57.9%.
 
UNDERRATED PERFORMER…  Gaige Armbrewster (Oakfield/Oakfield-Alabama) has quietly put together an efficient season, starting all 25 games and shooting 50.0% from the field, including 26-of-36 (72.2%) on 2-pointers. He has also shot 80.6% from the charity stripe, while contributing 61 total rebounds and 33 assists.
 
WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS…  Aaron Coston was honored as the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Division III National Player of the Week, to the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week, and as the SUNYAC Athlete of the Week on Feb. 16. Coston shot 24-for-29 (83.0%) and averaged 30.5 points and 10.0 rebounds over two victories over Oswego and Canton.
 
CATCHING UP ON THE CARDINALS…  Plattsburgh enters the weekend with a 13-12 overall record, finishing 9-9 in conference play to earn the fifth seed in the SUNYAC tournament.
 
The Cardinals are led in scoring by senior guard Reem Welch, who is the top scorer in the conference and ranked third in the nation at 26.1 points per game. Welch is also the top rebounder and assister for Plattsburgh at 8.3 boards per game and 4.1 assists per game.
 
If there were national rankings for most minutes played by starters, Plattsburgh would likely be among the leaders. Five different players average over 28 minutes per game, including Welch averaging 37.5 minutes per game and Jaiden Gladney averaging 35.8 minutes per game.
 
Eighty is a huge number for the Cardinals' offense, and for the Cortland defense. Plattsburgh is 9-1 in games this season when scoring 80 or more points. On the other hand, the Cardinals are just 4-11 when they are held under 80 for the game.
 
SCHEDULES/RESULTS (click team to access online schedules)…

#5 PLATTSBURGH CARDINALS: 13-12 (9-9 SUNYAC)
#1 CORTLAND RED DRAGONS: 21-4 (17-1 SUNYAC)
 
#3 OSWEGO LAKERS: 24-4 (15-3 SUNYAC) 
#2 ONEONTA RED DRAGONS: 17-8 (15-3 SUNYAC)