GENESEO, N.Y. – Justin Ringen scored 20 points as Geneseo edged Cortland, 75-73, in the men's basketball regular-season finale for both teams.
With the loss, Cortland (17-8, 12-6 SUNYAC) will be the fourth seed in the upcoming SUNYAC playoffs. The Red Dragons will host fifth-seeded Buffalo State in a first-round game Tuesday (tentative start time of 5:30 p.m.). Geneseo (14-11, 9-9 SUNYAC) clinched the sixth and final seed in the SUNYAC tournament with the win and will play at third-seeded Oneonta Tuesday. Oswego is the tournament's top seed and will host the semifinals and finals next Friday and Saturday, while Brockport is the second seed and will receive a bye into the semis.
James Morales (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) led Cortland with 26 points and Michael Kelly (Monroe/Burke Catholic) scored 20 points and handed out five assists. Morales made 9-of-14 shots, including 7-of-9 3-pointers, and Kelly was 8-of-10 from the field, 3-of-4 from long distance. Justin Prendergast (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) added eight points and a team-high seven rebounds, and Ryan Schmadel (Oriskany) hit all three of his shots, including two 3-pointers, and scored eight points.
Ringen finished the game 8-of-16 from the field with four 3-pointers, and also added five rebounds and three assists. John Decker tallied 17 points (five 3-pointers), five rebounds and four assists, and Kevin Crockett scored 12 points off the bench.
Geneseo took a 70-69 lead on a Crockett layup with 3:48 left, and his 3-pointer with 2:41 remaining pushed the lead to four. Morales made one free throw at the 2:24 mark, and neither team scored again until Crockett sank two foul shots with 1:05 left to give the Knights a five-point advantage.
Morales answered with a 3-pointer at the 55-second mark to draw Cortland within two. Geneseo turned the ball over with 32 seconds left, and Cortland had a look at a potential game-winning 3-pointer by Morales that missed the mark in the waning seconds.
Both teams made at least half of their field goal attempts. Cortland shot 51 percent overall and 64 percent (14-of-22) from the 3-point arc. Geneseo finished at 50 percent overall and 44 percent (17-of-39) from 3-point distance.