Last night, the Cortland varsity boys basketball team fell short to Auburn on the road 53-55.
The Cortland Tigers started the game well, getting away with a 27-23 lead at the end of the half. Despite maintaining a lead most of the first half, a string of Cortland turnovers led Auburn to turn a four point deficit into a five point lead in the opening two minutes of the third quarter.
The Tigers made a good run late in the fourth quarter, cutting an eight point Auburn lead down to just two points. Cortland took advantage of some missed free throw opportunities from Auburn, and the Tigers had the ball down by two with 15 seconds left.
However, Auburn’s defense deflected a pass from Cortland, resulting in the clock expiring before Cortland's last shot attempt.
“Our sloppy play to start the second half was a big factor,” said Cortland Head Coach Jeremy Milligan. “We had some opportunities tonight that we let slip by. Auburn shot the ball from beyond the arc much better than we anticipated.”
Senior Noah Armstrong led the Tigers with 21 points on the night. Following Armstrong were Colter Gohs with 12 points and Max Gambitta with 10 points.
The Auburn Maroons were led by DeSean Strachan with 17 points and Troy Churney with 15 points.
Here is a quarter by quarter breakdown of last night’s game:
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final Score |
| Cortland | 10 | 17 | 8 | 18 | 53 |
| Auburn | 9 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 55 |
The Cortland Tigers (2-3) will look to rebound on Wednesday, February 24th when they host a strong Marathon team (4-1) for an exciting Cortland County matchup. Tip off is at 7pm.
