ONEONTA, N.Y. - Despite holding the halftime lead, Cortland outscored Oneonta 42-27 in the second half to secure a 69-61 win on Friday evening. Oneonta falls to 14-9 overall and 9-7 in the SUNYAC, while Cortland moves to 13-9 and 12-3 in the conference.
"I think they wore us down. We played tough in the first half and Cortland started going inside in the second half and we struggled guarded them," said head coach Cameron Conover. "Tomorrow will be another tough game."
Cortland took a 12-5 lead following a three from Aaron Coston and a layup by Kendall Arcuri. Junior Elijah Castillo (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds) knocked down a mid-range jumper at 16:01, and freshman Cam LaClair (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) followed with an inside basket to cut the lead to three. Cortland built up to a 19-9 lead with Joel Davis scoring inside, but Oneonta answered when sophomore Kobe Long (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) knocked down a triple at 9:59 to start a 10-0 run.
Long gave Oneonta the lead at 6:17 by hitting another three-pointer and hit another at 2:16 to make it 27-22. Senior Zyeir Lawrence (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) threw down a dunk, but Kendall answered with a trey to keep the score within four points. Long made a buzzer-beater three to give Oneonta a 34-27 heading into halftime.
Cortland opened the second half with an and-one from Coston and an Arcuri three to retake the lead at 34-33. Five lead changes followed until scores from Lawrence and Long made it 47-41. Oneonta held Cortland off until an 8-0 span put the score at 57-53. Kendrick Wilson netted a three at 2:18 to push Cortland ahead 62-55, and they built up to a ten-point lead with 14 seconds remaining. Long knocked down final free throws before Oneonta ran out of time.
Long scored 22 points while shooting 6-of-13 from three-point range. Castillo added 12 points and three steals, while Lawrence scored 16 with nine rebounds.
Coston led all scorers with 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and four blocks. Arcuri had 18 points and eight boards. Davis grabbed a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Oneonta looks to bounce back against Morrisville on Sat. Feb. 15 at 4 p.m.
