BUFFALO, NY— Roderick Epps (Uniondale/Uniondale) scored his 1,000th career point and hit a game-tying 3-pionter with 19 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime before Buffalo State (10-9/6-6) pulled away in the extra session for a 90-83 victory over visiting Cortland (11-8/6-6) in a SUNYAC battle today at the Sports Arena.
Epps became the 21st player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, finishing with 21 points, going 7 of 10 from the field. Chris Thompson (Far Rockaway/Channel View) bolstered the Bengals' attack with a game-high 22 points to go with seven rebounds. Maurice Miles (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) netted 16 points off the bench, and Justin Mitchell (Buffalo/Timon) added 15 points and a career-best seven assists.
Cortland scored the first nine points of the game and led by as many as 14 points, before the Bengals cut the deficit to 34-29 at halftime. Buffalo State led briefly on three separate occasions in the second half, but found itself down 74-71 when Cortland nailed a 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining. Epps answered with a long ball just 10 seconds later to even the score, and the Red Dragons were unable to get a shot off for the win at the buzzer. Buffalo State scored the first seven points of the overtime period and maintained control the rest of the way.
The Bengals had another off day at the free throw line, going 16 of 31 (52-percent), but dominated Cortland inside and shot 64-percent from the field for the game. Cortland shot just 43-percent from the field, but went 9 of 19 from beyond the arc to give itself a chance. The Bengals finished with a 50-32 advantage scoring in the paint.
Buffalo State will visit New Paltz next Friday for another SUNYAC game at 8 p.m.