OSWEGO, N.Y. – Senior guard Jesse Winter scored 18 points, including a game-clinching three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining, as Cortland defeated defending SUNYAC champion Oswego, 75-69, at the Lakers' Max Ziel Gymnasium.
Cortland improved to 14-3 overall and is in second place in the SUNYAC with an 8-2 record. Oswego dropped to 13-4 overall and is fifth in the league at 6-4.
Winter also finished with five assists, five rebounds and three steals. He made 3-of-7 three-pointers as part of Cortland's 9-of-20 accuracy (45 percent) from the arc. Junior Kevin McMahon scored 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting and led the team with nine rebounds.
Senior Jeremy Smith also scored 17 points and dished out three assists and senior Harrison Hefele added 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.
Chris Gilkes and Daniel Ross led four Oswego double-figure scorers with 17 points each. Hayden Ward finished with 15 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds and Kyle Covley made 3-of-5 three-pointers in an 11-point performance.
Cortland shot 50 percent from the field and only turned the ball over six times, while Oswego made 49 percent of its shots and committed only eight turnovers.
Cortland led 39-35 at halftime, and neither team led by more than four points in the second half until there was just more than a minute left. The second half featured nine ties and six lead changes.
Oswego held its largest lead at 63-59 on a Ward layup with 5:08 left. Cortland tied the game on two Winter free throws and a layup by sophomore Lamard Herron (Westbury), but the Lakers took their final lead at 64-63 on a Covley foul shot with 3:45 remaining.
Hefele's three-pointer put Cortland back up by two at the 3:23 mark. Oswego tied the game on two Sean Michele free throws with 2:43 left, but the Red Dragons claimed the lead for good when Smith hit a spinning jumper near the foul line with 2:22 remaining.
The Lakers missed a layup and tip-in attempt on their next possession, which led to a fast-break layup by McMahon off a Herron assist with 1:43 on the clock. Gilkes hit one foul shot with 1:31 left to bring Oswego within three. Winter missed a trey with 1:04 left, but McMahon scored on a put-back and Cortland led 72-67 with 1:01 left.
Oswego again closed to within three after Gilkes hit a driving layup with 49 seconds left. On its next possession, Cortland ran down most of the shot clock before Winter took a pass from Herron and buried a three-pointer from the right side with 17 seconds left. The Lakers missed a jumper on their final trip down the court.
Cortland will host Brockport on Tuesday at 8 p.m.