Cortland Sports Information Department
CORTLAND, N.Y. – Kendall Arcuri's (Staten Island/St. Joseph by the Sea) hit a 3-pointer that bounced multiple times before falling as the overtime buzzer sounded and fourth-seeded Cortland defeated fifth-seeded Plattsburgh, 78-77, in the SUNYAC men's basketball tournament first round at Corey Gymnasium.
Cortland (15-11) advances to play at top-seeded Oswego in the semifinals Friday at 7:30 p.m. Plattsburgh finishes the season with a 14-12 mark.
Cortland trailed 77-75 after Plattsburgh's Dylan Trombley hit a jumper with less than 16 seconds left. After a timeout, the Red Dragons dribbled into the frontcourt and worked the ball around the perimeter. With time running out, Arcuri was forced to take a deep 3-pointer from the left side. The ball hit the front of the rim, bounced off the backboard, hit the front of the rim again and then the back of the rim before falling in and setting off a wild Cortland celebration.
Arcuri also was the hero at the end of regulation, driving the left baseline and hitting a tough floater in the paint to tie the score at 66-66 with 2.8 seconds left. Plattsburgh's Willard Anderson Jr. got off a running 3-pointer at the buzzer that rattled off the rim, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra session, Cortland led 71-66 with 3:35 left but the Cardinals quickly took the lead on a Dylan Trombley trey with 3:23 on the clock and a Ikechukwu Ezike 3-point play with 3:04 left. Cortland re-established a 75-72 lead following an Arcuri layup at the 2:38 mark and two Aaron Coston (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley) foul shots with 1:40 left, but Kevin Tabb nailed a 3-pointer for the Cardinals to tie it with 1:18 left and Trombley gave the guests the lead with his jumper prior to Arcuri's heroics.
A tight game throughout, neither team led by more than six points and regulation featured 10 lead changes and eight ties. Plattsburgh led by two but missed two free throws with 20 seconds left to give Cortland the opportunity to tie it.
Arcuri finished with a career-high 28 points and added nine rebounds and four assists. He finished 5-for-6 from 3-point range and 10-for-15 overall. Coston scored 15 points and grabbed nine boards and Jaylen Warmack (Utica/Utica Notre Dame) totaled 11 points, five assists, three steals and five rebounds. Gaige Armbrewster (Oakfield/Oakfield-Alabama) netted a career-best eight points, including two 3-pointers, and Isaiah Austin (Albany) scored six points and hauled in a career-best six rebounds.
Trombley led four Cortland double-figure scorers with 18 points. Ezike finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, Tabb scored 14 points and added 10 rebounds and three steals, and Anderson scored 14 points.
