CORTLAND, N.Y. - Cortland built a 20-point lead early in the second half and then held off a furious Brockport rally as the Red Dragons defeated the Golden Eagles, 77-70, in a SUNYAC men's basketball contest.
Cortland improves to 13-6 overall and 8-4 in the SUNYAC, tied for third place with Oneonta. Brockport is now 15-5 overall and second in the league with a 10-3 mark.
Justin Cooper (Pine Plains/Stissing Mountain) led Cortland with 22 point, 10 rebounds and three assists. He finished 9-for-9 from the foul line and was a combined 19-for-19 from the charity stripe in Cortland's two victories this weekend. Carrel Joseph (Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Deer Park (NY)) made 7-of-10 shots from the field, 4-of-5 from the 3-point arc, and finished with 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
Michael Kelly (Monroe/Burke Catholic) added 12 points, while James Morales (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) and Justin Prendergast (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) scored eight points each. Zach Lydon (Elizaville/Stissing Mountain) chipped in with six points, four rebounds and a career-best five blocked shots.
Devonn Gavin paced Brockport with 16 points off the bench and also recorded four assists. Marcus Blythers totaled 12 points and 10 rebounds, Clifton Lyerly added 12 points, and Matthew Smith registered 11 points and six rebounds. Hamed Shamseldin led the Golden Eagles with seven assists.
Cortland led 21-6 less than seven minutes into the game and by 14 points with five minutes left in the half, but Brockport came back and cut the margin to five with 2:28 remaining and eight, 46-38, at halftime. The Red Dragons took their largest lead at 64-44 on a Joseph 3-pointer with 13:09 remaining, but Cortland did not score again for more than 10 minutes.
Brockport eventually drew within 64-61 on a Lyerly layup with 5:11 left and missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer on its next possession. Cortland eventually ended its drought on a Lydon layup with 2:53 left to go up five, and Joseph's layup the next time down the court put the Red Dragons up 68-61 with 2:11 remaining.
Cortland sealed its victory by 9-of-10 free throws in the final minute, including four by Morales. The Red Dragons finished the game 23-of-27 (85 percent) from the foul line compared to Brockport's 7-of-11 (64 percent). Cortland shot 44 percent from the field, with Brockport ending at 36 percent. Both teams were held to 27 percent from the 3-point arc (Brockport 9-of-33, Cortland 6-of-22).
Cortland will host Plattsburgh next Friday at 7:30 p.m.