CORTLAND, N.Y.—Cortland netted a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining to escape with a 63-62 victory over visiting Buffalo State in a SUNYAC contest tonight.
THE BASICSFINAL SCORE: Cortland – 63, Buffalo State – 62
LOCATION: Whitney T. Corey Gymnasium – Cortland, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cortland (13-6/7-5), Buffalo State (12-8/6-7)
HOW IT HAPPENED- Lovell Smith (Buffalo/McKinley) led Buffalo State with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
- Nico McLean (Buffalo/Amherst) chipped in 11 points to go with seven boards, and Michael Henry (Syracuse/W. Genesee) finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
- Buffalo State took its largest lead of the game at five points in the first half and went to intermission holding a 30-28 advantage.
- Buffalo State led 44-41 with 12 minutes remaining, but Cortland assembled a 10-0 run to build its biggest advantage of the contest at 51-47 with nine minutes to play.
- The Bengals responded however, and used a late 7-0 run of its own to reclaim the lead at 62-61 on a Smith jumper with 1:28 to play.
- After missed shots at both ends, Cortland was forced to foul with 26 seconds remaining, and Buffalo State could not convert on either free throw.
- The Bengals fouled with five seconds left and Cortland's JP Reagan nailed both attempts at the line to reclaim the lead and complete the scoring.
- Buffalo State attempted an off-balance running jumper at the buzzer that did not connect.
- The Bengals had just 10 assisted baskets without injured point guard Jordan Glover (Buffalo/St. Joe's), after averaging 16.7 entering the game.
- Both teams struggled from the field, with the Bengals shooting 36 percent, and Cortland hitting just 33 percent.
- The Bengals held a 47-40 rebounding advantage and outscored Cortland 40-28 in the paint.
- Cortland outscored Buffalo State 21-12 at the charity stripe.
FOR THE FOES- Blair Estarfaa led the Red Dragons with 23 points.
- Reagan finished with 13 points, and TJ Hefele added 11.
NOTEWORTHY- Four of Buffalo State's eight losses have been by two points or fewer.
UP NEXTBuffalo State will visit Oswego tomorrow at 4 p.m.
