GENESEO, N.Y. –
Austin Grunder (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) scored 27 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and
Brendan Fitzpatrick (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK) finished with 14 points and eight assists as Cortland opened SUNYAC play with a 75-66 victory at Geneseo.
The Red Dragons (2-1, 1-0 SUNYAC) led 23-9 with 8:13 left in the first half, but Geneseo closed to within 30-25 at halftime. The Knights (3-4, 0-1 SUNYAC) led by as many as eight points in the second half, the last time at 53-45 with 10:38 remaining.
Cortland methodically worked its way back and took a 62-61 lead on a
Jake DiSanto (Victor) 3-pointer with 3:20 remaining and grabbed the lead for good at 64-63 with 1:44 left on a Fitzpatrick jumper. DiSanto, who finished with a career-high 11 points, connected on another trey with 58 seconds left to give Cortland a four-point lead. The Red Dragons made 8-of-10 free throws after that to seal the victory.
Grunder finished 10-of-18 from the field and 5-of-7 from the foul line, and he also blocked two shots in addition to his 17 rebounds. He entered the game as the NCAA Division III leader with 19 rebounds per game through Cortland's first two contests.
Eric Edwards (Binghamton) ended with nine points and seven rebounds,
Ben Walters (Lockport/Starpoint) dished out three assists, and
Isaiah Preston (Penfield),
Kareem Lubin (South Blooming Grove/Washingtonville) and
JJ Johnson (Rochester/Spencerport) each pulled down four rebounds.
Joseph Harclerode, Michael Gannon and Elijah Wingfield each scored 14 points for Geneseo. Harclerode led the Knights with 11 boards and Harrison Dignan ended with eight points and five assists.
The teams were nearly identical in shooting percentage overall – Geneseo at just under 39.7 percent (25-of-63) and Cortland at 39.4 percent (26-of-66). The Red Dragons, however, finished 10-of-32 from 3-point range and 13-of-16 from the foul line, while the Knights were 3-of-16 from the arc and 13-of-23 from the line.
Cortland will travel to Brockport for a 4 p.m. SUNYAC game Saturday.
