Feb 01, 2020
BUFFALO, N.Y - Jake DiSanto (Victor) registered career highs of nine 3-pointers and 29 points, Austin Grunder (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Brendan Fitzpatrick's (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK) 12 assists tied the school single-game record, which he already held a share of, as Cortland defeated host Buffalo State, 100-73.
Cortland (12-6, 6-5 SUNYAC) reached the 100-point mark for the fourth time this season, tying a school record set in the 1989-90 season.
DiSanto was 9-for-13 from the arc and 10-for-14 from the field overall and also added four assists. His nine 3-pointers are tied for the second-highest single-game total in school history along with Jeremy Smith in 2012 and Nicky Bonura on three occasions in 2017-18 and 2018-19. The school 3-point record is 10 by Dave Maggiacomo in January 2007.
Grunder was 8-for-11 from the floor with two 3-pointers and also handed out three assists. Fitzpatrick contributed six points and six rebounds in addition to his 12 assists – a total he also posted earlier this season in a win over Cabrini.
Ryan Schmadel (Oriskany) added 10 points, followed by Ben Walters (Lockport/Starpoint) with nine and AJ Lawton (Saratoga Springs) with eight. Lawton made both of his 3-point tries. Eric Edwards (Binghamton) recorded six points, five rebounds and four blocks.
Kay Grant scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Buffalo State (3-12, 1-10 SUNYAC). Jordan Christopher ended with 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and Sheldon Adams scored 12 points and distributed four assists.
Cortland led 61-34 at halftime. DiSanto scored 20 points, including six treys, and Grunder had 14 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Red Dragons made 12-of-20 threes in the half and finished the game 17-of-33 (52 percent) from the arc. Cortland took a 19-4 lead to start the game and was up 38-14 with just under nine minutes remaining.
Buffalo State cut a 29-point deficit early in the second half to 18 at 78-60 with 9:51 left and again at 80-62 at the 9:16 mark. Cortland, however, scored nine of the next 11 points, including DiSanto's ninth 3-pointer of the game, to push its lead to 89-64 with 7:19 remaining and secure the victory.
Cortland, currently fifth in the SUNYAC standings, will host fourth-place Oswego next Saturday, Feb. 8, at 4 p.m.