BUFFALO, N.Y. – Senior JP Reagan (Cortland) made a 3-pointer with one second remaining in overtime to lift Cortland to an 84-83 win over host Buffalo State in the opening SUNYAC game for each team. The Red Dragons improved to 4-1 overall and the Bengals fell to 3-2 with the decision.
Buffalo State took an 83-81 lead on a Nico McLean jumper with eight seconds left in overtime. Cortland did not call timeout but instead came downcourt and found Reagan on the right wing. Reagan got himself set outside the arc and swished home the game-winning trey. A desperation heave by the Bengals was off the mark at the buzzer.
Cortland led by 11 points, 45-34, less than two minutes into the second half, but Buffalo State eventually tied the game at 66-66 on a Redell Freeman 3-point play with 3:32 left. The Red Dragons, however, established a 74-67 lead with 2:29 left on an 8-1 run that featured 3-pointers by Blair Estarfaa (Buffalo/Maryvale) and Dre Hampton (Bronx/Frederick Douglass Academy) and a Shayne Martinez (West Haverstraw/North Rockland) layup.
The Bengals scored the next four points before Martinez made a jumper with just under a minute left. McLean answered with a layup with 47 seconds left in regulation and, after a Cortland turnover, McLean hit a game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds left.
Buffalo State took a 79-76 lead with 3:22 left in overtime on Freeman's 3-pointer, but Reagan's traditional 3-point play knotted the game with 2:54 left. Grequan Carter (Queens/Campus Magnet) hit an off-balance baseline jumper with 1:22 left to put Cortland ahead, but the Bengals tied the game on a short Leon Moise jumper with 1:03 remaining. Cortland missed a 3-pointer with under 40 seconds left to set up the final theatrics.
Estarfaa led five Red Dragon double-figure scorers with 17 points. He was 5-of-11 from 3-point range. Carrel Joseph (Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Deer Park (NY)) scored 12 points, Reagan ended with 11, and Zay Cotton (Hyde Park/F.D. Roosevelt) and Hampton each scored 10.
Hampton led Cortland with nine rebounds, while Reagan and Martinez each ended with seven boards. Estarfaa and Martinez shared the team lead with four assists each, with Martinez also registering three steals.
Mike Henry paced Buffalo State with 18 points and 11 rebounds. McLean scored 17 points, while Lovell Smith, Dominic Grayer and Freeman each scored 12 points. McLean handed out six assists, grabbed five rebounds and made three steals.
Cortland shot 13-of-29 (45 percent) from 3-point range. In addition to Estarfaa's five treys, Cotton, Reagan, Hampton and James Morales (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) hit two 3-pointers apiece. Grayer made 4-of-8 threes for Buffalo State, but the rest of the Bengals' squad was a combined 4-of-16 from long distance.
Cortland will play at Fredonia on Saturday at 4 p.m.