CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland men's basketball team guaranteed itself either a second-place or third-place finish in the SUNYAC standings with a 72-61 victory over visiting Oswego in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Cortland (18-7, 12-6 SUNYAC) will finish second in the conference and earn a bye into the league tournament semifinals if league leader Plattsburgh wins at Geneseo (11-6) on Saturday. If Geneseo wins that game, the Knights will claim the second seed by virtue of a season sweep of Cortland, and the Red Dragons will be the third seed and will host the sixth seed (either Buffalo State or Oneonta) in the quarterfinals Tuesday.
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Oswego (18-7, 11-7 SUNYAC) can finish anywhere from third to fifth place based on Saturday's league results. Plattsburgh is the top seed and will host the semifinals and finals next Friday and Saturday. The third and fourth seeds host quarterfinal games against the sixth and fifth seeds, respectively.
JP Reagan (Cortland) led Cortland with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor and 6-of-7 accuracy on the foul line. He also gathered in six rebounds. Reagan has now scored 1,067 points in his collegiate career (787 in three seasons at RIT and 280 at Cortland this winter).
Blair Estarfaa finished with 17 points and team highs of seven rebounds and four assists.
Blair Estarfaa (Buffalo/Maryvale) finished with 17 points and team highs of seven rebounds and four assists. Carrel Joseph (Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Deer Park (NY)) made 5-of-9 shots and ended with 11 points, and he matched Estarfaa for the team lead with seven rebounds.
Alex Rawa led Oswego with 19 points. He connected on 4-of-7 shots from the 3-point line and added seven rebounds. Mykelle Krecko registered 14 points (6-of-8 field goals), 13 rebounds and two blocked shots. Kyle Covley and Keith Tyson scored nine points each and Brian Sortino finished with eight points and four assists.
Cortland shot 56 percent in the first half and took a 37-29 lead into the locker room. Joseph quickly pushed the lead to 10 with a layup in the first minute of the second half, but Rawa sank two treys and Tyson hit a bucket to quickly get the Lakers back within two.
Cortland, however, answered with a 12-2 run over four-minute span to take a 51-39 lead. Estarfaa hit two 3-pointers, Joseph nailed a three, and Reagan converted on a traditional 3-point play during that stretch. The Red Dragons held at least an eight-point lead the rest of the game. Cortland finished the game at 47 percent from the field, 23 percent (6-of-26) from three, and 12-of-14 (86 percent) on the line. Oswego shot 37 percent overall, 20 percent (6-of-30) from the arc, and was 7-of-11 (64 percent) on the line.
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