BUFFALO, NY – Lovell Smith (Buffalo, NY/McKinley) recorded his third double-double of the season, tallying 16 points and 10 rebounds to help Buffalo State (12-7, 8-5 SUNYAC) hang on for a 60-54 win over Cortland (14-5, 7-5 SUNYAC) on Friday night at Sports Arena.

Smith led the Bengals offensively, while both Roderick Epps(Uniondale, NY/Uniondale) and Chris Cartwright (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) added 14 points and five rebounds. Chris Thompson (Far Rockaway, NY/Channel View) also recorded a double-double with 10 points and a team-high 13 boards.

Cartwright opened up the game quickly, putting the Bengals up by three just 20 seconds into play. The Red Dragons kept things close and at 14:24 took their first lead of the game, 8-7. Buffalo State responded back with a 16-2 run, led by eight points from Epps, to go up 23-10 with just over seven minutes to play in the first half. The Bengals remained in control in the closing minutes and took a 32-24 lead into halftime.

Midway through the second half, Buffalo State pushed out to its largest lead of the game, 46-30, after back-to-back three's from Cartwright and a layup by Epps.

The game quickly changed, however, as Cortland went on an 11-0 run at 9:29. With 5:39 remaining, the Red Dragons found themselves down by only five points. Two minutes later, Cortland would cut the Bengals lead to three points, but the Bengals responded with a 6-0 run to go back up by nine points, 55-46. In the final minute Buffalo State hit five free throws to seal the win.

The Bengals finished the night shooting 37.5 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent behind the arc and 56.5 percent from the charity stripe. On the boards, the Bengals held a slight 43-40 advantage. Cortland finished similarly to the Bengals, shooting 32.8 percent from the floor, 30 percent from behind the arc and 61.5 percent from the charity stripe.

Buffalo State will return to action on Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. SUNYAC matchup at home against Oswego.