CORTLAND, N.Y. – Senior Kevin McMahon (Hoosick Falls) scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and sophomore Blair Estarfaa (Buffalo/Maryvale) tallied 20 points as Cortland pulled away in the second half for a 65-53 win over visiting Geneseo.
Cortland is now 9-8 in the SUNYAC (14-10 overall) and is tied with Oswego for fifth place in the league standings, a half game behind fourth-place Oneonta (9-7) and a game and a half ahead of seventh-place Buffalo State (7-9). Cortland and Oswego conclude their regular-season schedules with a game at Cortland Saturday at 4 p.m. The top six teams earn SUNYAC playoff berths, with the third and fourth-place teams hosting quarterfinal games next Tuesday.
Geneseo dropped to 18-5 overall and 12-4 in the league with the loss. The Knights are a game behind second-place Plattsburgh with two games left, but are guaranteed no worse than a third-place finish.
McMahon and Estarfaa were two of three Cortland players, along with junior Lamard Herron (Westbury), to play the game's entire 40 minutes. McMahon made 3-of-4 of his 3-pointers (6-of-14 overall) and recorded his 10th double-double of the season. Estarfaa, who has scored at least 20 points each of his last three games, made 4-of-9 shots from the arc and 8-of-14 overall. Herron scored 14 points and matched his career highs with seven assists and seven steals.
Matt Curry (Greenlawn/Harborfields) led Geneseo with 13 points and James McKenna (Huntington/St. Anthony's) totaled 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Gordon Lyons (Amherst/Canisius) finished with nine points and a team-high 13 rebounds and Thomas Decker (White Plains/Archbishop Stepinac) led the Knights with seven assists.
Geneseo led 46-44 after a Fedge layup with 11:37 left, but the Knights scored only two points, on two Curry foul shots at the 7:25 mark, over the next 10 minutes. A Lyons layup with 1:36 left ended the Geneseo field-goal drought, but by that point Cortland led 60-50. Estarfaa and McMahon each scored five points during that decisive stretch.
Cortland grabbed an early 20-9 lead near the midway point of the first half, but Geneseo fought back to within 28-26 with 4:03 left and eventually took a 31-30 lead on a Jordan Jones (Rochester/McQuaid Jesuit) layup with 2:09 remaining. Cortland led 36-34 at halftime after senior Garen Spendjian (Glen Cove) drained a 3-pointer from the right corner as time expired.
Cortland played only six players in the game. In addition to the three 40-minute players, sophomore T.J. Hefele (Greenlawn/Friends Academy) played 33 minutes, Spendjian was on the court for 28 minutes (including all 20 in the first half) and junior Matt McGowan (Lake George) played 19 minutes. Hefele finished with four assists.