CORTLAND, N.Y. – Junior Joey Kizel (Short Hills, NJ/Millburn) scored seven of his team-high 22 points in the final four minutes as Middlebury College rallied to defeat SUNY Cortland, 67-63, in the second round of the NCAA Div. III Men's Basketball Tournament.
The nationally seventh-ranked Panthers (24-3) will face either Rochester or Ithaca in the "sweet 16" on Saturday, March 16, at a site and time to be determined. Cortland, ranked 23rd nationally, finishes the season with a 24-5 record, tying the school record for wins in a season. The Red Dragons suffered their first home loss of the winter and ended the season 13-1 at Corey Gymnasium.
Kizel hit 7-of-12 shots from the floor, including 3-of-6 three-pointers, and hit 5-of-6 free throws. He also led the team with four assists. Junior James Jensen (North White Plains/Valhalla) added 13 points and a team-high 11 rebounds and senior Peter Lynch (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) scored 10 points. Jensen made all seven of his free throws and the Panthers, as a team, finished 17-of-21 from the charity stripe.
Junior Kevin McMahon (Hoosick Falls) scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Red Dragons. He connected on 11-of-15 shots from the floor and also registered four blocked shots and three assists. Senior Jesse Winter (Rockville Centre/South Side) tallied 12 points and senior Brian Manning (Elmira/Southside) hit 3-of-6 three-pointers and finished with nine points.
Cortland shot 46 percent from the field compared to Middlebury's 43 percent, and both teams shot 35 percent from three-point range (Middlebury 6-of-17, Cortland 7-of-20). The Panthers outscored Cortalnd 17-4 from the foul line.
Middlebury finished the first half on a 19-4 run to turn a six-point deficit into a 36-27 halftime advantage, Cortland's largest halftime deficit of the season. The Red Dragons, however, quickly pulled back within four points two minutes into the second half.
Trailing 48-42 with 12:08 left, Cortland mounted a 13-0 run in less than four minutes to take its largest lead of the game at 55-48. Sophomore Lamard Herron (Westbury) and Manning started the run with three-pointers, followed by baskets by McMahon and Hefele and a McMahon three-point play at the 8:53 mark.
Middlebury, however, answered with a Jake Wolfin (Woodcliff Lake, NJ/Pascack Hills) trey with 8:37 left and a Wolfin layup 1:20 later to cut Cortland's lead to two. The Panthers eventually took a 58-57 lead on a Kizel jumper with 3:28 left, but Manning hit a three with 2:57 remaining to give the Red Dragons their final lead at 60-58.
Kizel sank two foul shots to tie the game with 2:31 left. Cortland missed two treys on its next possession and Lynch put Middlebury up for good with a layup at the 1:42 mark. A tying layup attempt by the Red Dragons missed with 1:14 left and Kizel hit two foul shots with 49 seconds left to make it a two-possession lead.
Another Kizel free throw made it a five-point game with 27 seconds left. Herron's three-pointer with 17 seconds left drew the Red Dragons back within two, but Lynch hit two foul shots with just under 12 seconds left to seal the Middlebury victory.