Zach Lydon's career-high 34 points included five "traditional" 3-point plays (Darl Zehr Photography)
SUNY Cortland Men’s Basketball
Cortland vs. Buffalo State
Saturday, February 10, 2018; Corey Gymnasium; Cortland, N.Y.
FINAL SCORE: Cortland 105, Buffalo St. 88
CORTLAND, N.Y. - Zach Lydon (Elizaville/Stissing Mountain) scored a career-high 34 points and added a team-high seven rebounds as Cortland clinched a top-four SUNYAC regular-season finish with a 105-88 win over visiting Buffalo State. The Red Dragons' 105 points are their most since a 108-105 overtime home win versus Buffalo State in the 2011-12 season, and their most in regulation since scoring 107 points at home versus Oneonta in the 1997-98 campaign.
Cortland (17-6, 12-4 SUNYAC) can finish anywhere from second to fourth in the final league standings. The second seed earns a bye into the league tournament semifinals, while the third and fourth-place teams will host first-round games. Cortland is currently tied with Brockport for second place, with Geneseo a game back in fourth. The Red Dragons close the regular season at home next Friday versus Geneseo and next Saturday versus Brockport.
Four Red Dragons combined for 92 of the team's 105 points versus the Bengals. Lydon scored his 34 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field. Nicky Bonura (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) scored 21, Justin Cooper (Pine Plains/Stissing Mountain) finished with 19, and James Morales (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) added 18. Morales led the team with five assists and Cooper ended with six rebounds and four assists. Bonura and Ryan Schmadel (Oriskany) each finished with three assists.
Cortland finished 15-of-32 (47 percent) from 3-point range and 53 percent overall from the floor. Bonura connected on 6-of-10 treys, Cooper was 3-for-4 from the arc, and Schmadel and Morales each hit 3-pointers. Lydon only went 1-for-2 from 3-point range, but he converted five of Cortland's six "traditional" 3-point plays in the contest and ended 9-of-11 from the foul line.
Sheldon Adams made seven 3-pointers and finished with 29 points for Buffalo State (8-15, 4-13 SUNYAC). Mike Henry and Sir.Quintin Campbell each tallied 16 points. Campbell led the Bengals with nine rebounds. J.C. Christopher finished with five assists, with Henry, Kareem Holmes and Malik Turner dishing out four assists each.
Cortland led 42-36 before outscoring the Bengals 10-2 over the final 2:33 of the first half. Morales scored six points in the run. The closest Buffalo State got in the second half was 12 points on four occasions, the last at 70-58 with 13:18 left.
Buffalo State shot 51 percent overall and was 11-of-30 (37 percent) from the 3-point line. Both teams made 34 field goals, but Cortland finished 22-of-29 from the foul line while the Bengals were 9-of-14.
