SUNYAC Game of the Week: Cortland completes crucial comeback
CORTLAND, N.Y. - The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) has selected the men's basketball game on January 26, between Cortland and Brockport as its game of the week.
A prolific scoring performance from Brockport led to the Golden Eagles scoring 52 points in the first half against Cortland, 18 of the points coming from sophomore forward Justin Summers. The Golden Eagles led by nine points at halftime and lead by as many as 12 in the first half.
-The second half saw the Red Dragons down 13 points before they began to mount a comeback. A three pointer by Ryan Schamdel brought the Cortland deficit down to single digits, which sparked a 7-0 Cortland run to put them within three points
Three point shooting was the key to the game for the Red Dragons as they hit 18 threes in the game, nine coming from junior guard Nicky Bonura, who had 27 points in the game.
The final three minutes of the game saw three lead changes and both teams exchanging three point shots on each end of the floor. Down 82-84, Cortland's junior forward Zach Lydon hit the go-ahead three with 20 seconds left to put the Red Dragons up by one.
A Brockport turnover and subsequent foul gave Cortland a chance to increase their lead with free throws but senior James Morales could not take advantage of the one-and-one, giving Brockport the ball with eight seconds left.
Cortland completed the comeback on the defensive end with a block by Lydon who put his team ahead moments earlier.
Cortland remains in second place in the SUNYAC after the game and Brockport remains in third place. Both teams face SUNYAC competition next as Cortland will travel to Potsdam on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Brockport will travel to Geneseo on Saturday at 3 p.m.
