CORTLAND, N.Y.—Cortland netted a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining to escape with a 63-62 victory over visiting Buffalo State in a SUNYAC contest tonight.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Cortland – 63, Buffalo State – 62

LOCATION:  Whitney T. Corey Gymnasium – Cortland, N.Y.

RECORDS: Cortland (13-6/7-5), Buffalo State (12-8/6-7) 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Lovell Smith (Buffalo/McKinley) led Buffalo State with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
• Nico McLean (Buffalo/Amherst) chipped in 11 points to go with seven boards, and Michael Henry (Syracuse/W. Genesee) finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
• Buffalo State took its largest lead of the game at five points in the first half and went to intermission holding a 30-28 advantage. 
• Buffalo State led 44-41 with 12 minutes remaining, but Cortland assembled a 10-0 run to build its biggest advantage of the contest at 51-47 with nine minutes to play. 
• The Bengals responded however, and used a late 7-0 run of its own to reclaim the lead at 62-61 on a Smith jumper with 1:28 to play.
• After missed shots at both ends, Cortland was forced to foul with 26 seconds remaining, and Buffalo State could not convert on either free throw.
• The Bengals fouled with five seconds left and Cortland's JP Reagan nailed both attempts at the line to reclaim the lead and complete the scoring.
• Buffalo State attempted an off-balance running jumper at the buzzer that did not connect.
• The Bengals had just 10 assisted baskets without injured point guard Jordan Glover (Buffalo/St. Joe's), after averaging 16.7 entering the game.
• Both teams struggled from the field, with the Bengals shooting 36 percent, and Cortland hitting just 33 percent. 
• The Bengals held a 47-40 rebounding advantage and outscored Cortland 40-28 in the paint. 
• Cortland outscored Buffalo State 21-12 at the charity stripe.

FOR THE FOES

• Blair Estarfaa led the Red Dragons with 23 points.
• Reagan finished with 13 points, and TJ Hefele added 11.

NOTEWORTHY

• Four of Buffalo State's eight losses have been by two points or fewer.

UP NEXT

Buffalo State will visit Oswego tomorrow at 4 p.m.