OSWEGO, N.Y. – Liam Sanborn scored 22 of his game-high 26 points in the second half as Oswego rallied past Cortland, 74-67, in a SUNYAC men's basketball tournament quarterfinal game.

 

Oswego (19-7), the fourth seed, advances to play top-seeded Brockport in the semifinals Friday evening at Brockport. Cortland, seeded fifth, ends the season with a 17-9 record.

Brendan Fitzpatrick (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK) led Cortland with a career-high 24 points along with a team-best seven assists. He was 6-of-12 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, and made all nine of his free throw attempts. Fitzpatrick scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half.

Jake DiSanto (Victor) made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points, all in the opening 20 minutes. Austin Grunder (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) ended with 10 points and 10 rebounds for his 22nd double-double of the season, and Eric Edwards (Binghamton) finished with 10 points and seven boards. Ben Walters (Lockport/Starpoint) hit two 3-pointers and scored eight points.

 

Sanborn finished the game 10-of-18 from the field, 4-for-8 from 3-point range, and added seven rebounds and three blocks. Oswego's starting five accounted for all of its points, with each player in double figures. In addition to Sanborn's 26 points, Joe Sullivan totaled 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Brandan Gartland and Jeremiah Sparks each scored 12 points, and Jamal Achille netted 10 points and shared the team lead with nine rebounds.

 

Cortland led for the final 7:44 of the first half, extending its lead to as much as eight before going into the locker room at halftime up by seven, 37-30. Grunder's layup 33 seconds into the second half gave the Red Dragons their largest lead of the night at nine points.

 

Trailing 44-36 with 17:51 left, Oswego went on a 17-2 run over the next seven minutes to take a 53-46 lead. Sanborn scored nine points during that stretch. Cortland closed back to within two twice in the next three minutes, the latter coming at 56-54 on Fitzpatrick's 3-pointer with 8:19 remaining.

 

The hosts were clinging to a 65-61 lead when Sanborn nailed a 3-pointer with 4:06 remaining to make it a seven-point margin. Cortland was within five points three times over the last four minutes, each time after two Fitzpatrick free throws. The Red Dragons got a steal with 20 seconds left but missed three shots on its ensuing possession, and Sparks closed out the game with two free throws with nine seconds left.

 

Cortland enjoyed a strong-shooting first half, hitting 52 percent of its shots overall and 55 percent (6-for-11) from the arc. The Red Dragons, however, made only 35 percent of its second-half attempts (and only 3-for-10 from 3-point range) and finished the game at 44 percent. Conversely, Oswego shot 41 percent in the first half, and was only 1-for-11 from deep, but connected on 54 percent of its field goals in the second half. The Lakers made 8-of-12 (62 percent) of their second-half treys. Oswego shot 47 percent overall and 38 percent from 3-point range for the game.