OSWEGO, N.Y. – Oswego went on a 13-0 run to erase a four-point deficit early in the second half and the top-seeded and nationally 14th-ranked Lakers defeated visiting Cortland, 66-57, in the SUNYAC tournament championship game.
Hayden Ward scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Chad Burridge scored 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds for Oswego (25-3), which won its first SUNYAC postseason crown since the league re-started its conference tournament in 1980. The Lakers earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Div. III tournament with the victory.
Cortland (21-7) was making its first championship game appearance since 2001 and fifth overall since the re-start of the tournament in 1980. The Red Dragons won the 2000 title and finished second in 1997, 1999, 2001 and this season. Cortland will await a potential NCAA at-large berth, but if it does not receive one, will most likely play in the ECAC playoffs. The NCAA and ECAC pairings will be announced on Monday.
Burridge was named the tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by Ward, Cortland junior guards Jeremy Smith and Jesse Winter, Geneseo's Ryan Riefenhauser and Brockport's John Ivy.
Smith led Cortland with 13 points. He made 3-of-8 three-pointers and set a SUNYAC tournament record with 15 made three-pointers over three games. That total included a SUNYAC tournament single-game record nine treys in Cortland's semifinal win Friday over Geneseo. Winter scored 11 points and led the Red Dragons with six assists.
Junior Brian Manning also scored 11 points, including 3-of-8 three-point shooting. Sophomore Kevin McMahon added 10 points, junior Harrison Hefele finished with seven points and six rebounds and junior Dan Sternkopf grabbed eight rebounds.
Oswego took a 7-0 lead to start the game, but Cortland went on a 17-2 run and led 17-9 after a McMahon layup with 11:13 left in the half. The hosts eventually took a 25-21 lead late in the first half and held a 25-23 advantage at halftime.
Manning made two three-pointers in the first 1:40 of the second half to give Cortland a 29-25 lead. The Red Dragons' lead was still four at 34-30 after a Manning jumper with 16:16 remaining.
From that point, Oswego scored 13 straight points and never trailed. Burridge scored seven points and Ward six in that run and the Lakers led 43-34 with 10:30 left.
Cortland got back to within 48-44 on a Hefele layup with 5:42 left and again at 50-46 on a McMahon dunk with 4:29 on the clock. Hefele's jumper with 3:04 left cut the Oswego lead to three, and the Red Dragons had a chance to tie the game on their next possession but missed a three-pointer.
Ward's layup at the 1:46 mark put Oswego up 55-50 and he hit two foul shots to extend the lead to seven with 56 seconds left. Cortland got no closer than five from that point as the Lakers made 9-of-10 free throws – 6-of-6 by Sean Michele – over the final 44 seconds.
Cortland shot 40 percent from the floor (24-of-60), but only 29 percent (8-of-28) from three-point range. The Red Dragons also made just 1-of-7 free throws. Oswego, conversely, hit 22-of-26 free throws and shot 48 percent (20-of-42) from the field. Each team committed only six turnovers.