CORTLAND, N.Y.—
Lovell Smith (Buffalo/McKinley) tallied 18 points and nine rebounds and visiting fifth-seeded Buffalo State limited No. 4 Cortland to its second-lowest offensive output of the season in a 61-59 victory tonight in a SUNYAC quarterfinal contest.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 61, Cortland - 59
LOCATION: Corey Gym - Cortland, N.Y.
RECORDS: Buffalo State (17-8), Cortland (17-9)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Smith was 9 of 15 from the field in 39 minutes of play.
- Mike Henry (Syracuse/West Genesee) added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
- Jordan Glover (Buffalo/St. Joe's) had nine points on three 3-pointers, and Jordan Chateau (Bayside/Lowell) chipped in five points and eight rebounds off the bench.
- Neither team could create any separation in the first half as Cortland closed the opening 20 minutes with a 28-25 advantage.
- The Red Dragons struck first in the second half, but the Bengals responded with a 13-2 run to take a five-point lead and never trailed the rest of the way.
- The Bengals twice pushed the lead to eight, including with three minutes remaining.
- Buffalo State would just score one point in the final 3:19 to allow Cortland to stay within striking distance.
- Henry hit 1 of 2 free throws with 45 seconds left before the Red Dragons nailed a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 61-59 with 34 seconds left.
- After Glover missed the first half of a 1-and-1, Cortland had the ball down two with 27 seconds remaining.
- The Bengals played tight defense and Cortland's only shot came in the form of a deep 3-point attempt with four seconds remaining that went begging and allowed the Bengals to claim the victory.
- Both teams shot 37 percent from the field. Buffalo State was just 5 of 24 from 3-point range and the Red Dragons hit just 4 of 18 from beyond the arc.
- The Bengals owned the glass, outrebounding Cortland, 46-33, including an 18-6 advantage on the offensive boards.
FOR THE FOES
- Justin Cooper led Cortland with 16 points and eight rebounds.
- Justin Prendergast netted 13 points, and Michael Kelly scored 12.
NOTEWORTHY
- The win marks Buffalo State's first SUNYAC playoff win since capturing the conference title in 2011.
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will advance to the SUNYAC semifinals at top-seeded Oswego on Friday at 7:30 p.m. No. 3 Oneonta knocked off No. 6 Geneseo in today's other quarterfinal, and will face No. 2 Brockport in Friday's other semifinal at 5:30 p.m. The winners will meet in Saturday's title game at 4 p.m. in Oswego.
