CORTLAND, N.Y. – JP Reagan (Cortland) scored 17 of his career-high 28 points in the second half as Cortland rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat Brockport, 73-72, in a SUNYAC men's basketball matchup.
The Red Dragons improved to 17-7 overall and are tied with Oswego for second in the league standings at 11-6.
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Brockport (15-8 overall) and Geneseo are tied for fourth place with 10-6 league records. Cortland closes out the regular season at home versus Oswego Friday at 7:30 p.m., while Brockport and Geneseo each have home games remaining this weekend versus league leader Plattsburgh and last-place Potsdam. Plattsburgh clinched the SUNYAC top seed Wednesday with a home win over Potsdam.
Reagan made 14-of-16 free throws and 6-of-10 field goals, including both of his 3-point attempts, in 29 minutes off the bench. Reagan, who played three years at RIT before transferring to Cortland this season, previously scored 26 points at RPI during his sophomore year with the Tigers.
JP Reagan's career-high 28 points included 14-of-16 shooting from the foul line (Darl Zehr Photography)
T.J. Hefele (Greenlawn/Friends Academy) added 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and Michael Kelly (Monroe/Burke Catholic) tallied 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.
Clifton Lyerly led five Brockport double-figure scorers with 14 points and also pulled down a team-high six rebounds. Olusola Adeniran and Levi Pace scored 12 points each, while Matthew Smith and Devonn Gavin tallied 10 points apiece. Smith led the Golden Eagles with four assists, with Lyerly and Gavin dishing out three assists each.
Related: SUNY Cortland secures playoff birth with win at Potsdam
Brockport shot 53 percent from the floor compared to Cortland's 46 percent, but the Red Dragons shot 83 percent (25-of-30) from the foul line while Brockport hit just 50 percent (11-of-22) from the charity stripe.
Brockport led 39-24 with 2:55 left in the first half on a Hamed Shamseldin layup. Cortland got to within nine over the next minute, but Brockport took a 43-31 halftime lead after a Pace layup in the closing seconds of the period.
Down 11 with 12:08 remaining, Cortland slowly worked its way back into the game. Reagan hit two free throws at the 8:46 mark and nailed a 3-pointer - Cortland's only made trey of the half - with 8:28 left to pull the Red Dragons within three at 59-56.
Reagan eventually gave Cortland the lead at 63-62 with 4:42 left on a layup, and hit another layup with 3:51 left to push the lead to three. He also hit two foul shots with 3:36 left and a jumper at the 2:35 mark to give Cortland a 69-64 lead.
Lyerly answered with a layup with 2:21 left. After each team missed a 3-pointer, Hefele hit a jumper with 1:05 left and the shot clock winding down to put the hosts up 71-66. Cortland held a 73-69 lead before Gavin swished a 3-pointer with four seconds left to make it a one-point game. After a Brockport timeout, Hefele broke free down the court to catch a long inbounds pass. He missed a dunk attempt, but the clock ran out before either team could secure possession.
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