CORTLAND, N.Y. - Junior Hobson Herlihy (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence) netted the game-winning three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining to give the Oneonta men's basketball team a 79-75 win over Cortland on Saturday afternoon. Four Red Dragons scored in double digits as the Oneonta moves to 6-5 overall and 4-0 in the SUNYAC. Cortland falls to 8-4 overall and 4-1 in the conference.
"Our guys came out again with a great focus on the task at hand. Win or lose, I was going to be proud of their effort, as our guys played hard tonight," said head coach Cameron Conover. "I am happy for our guys as they earned a hard-fought victory. We will enjoy the bus ride home and then get back to work for another tough three games ahead this week."
Cortland built up to a 19-13 lead following a layup from Chris McDonald and a triple by Xavier Leveille. Sophomore Nate Cohen (Somers, NY/Somers) knocked down a three at 10:12 to cut the lead to three, but a 4-0 Cortland run pushed the lead to 23-16.
Cortland eventually led by eight points, but a 7-0 Oneonta run with Cohen draining two triples cut the lead to one at 6:22. Kendrick Wilson answered with a three the following possession, but Cohen was back again with a trey at 5:15 to give Oneonta a 5:15 lead.
Cohen stayed hot in the first half and followed up three free throws with his sixth three-pointer at 1:40 to tie 38-38. Cortland closed out the half on a 4-0 run to lead by four at the break.
Cortland held a narrow lead to start the second half until junior Nicholas Cortez (Harlem, NY/Forest Hills) knocked down a three at 15:52 to cut the lead to 47-46. He converted inside off a pass from sophomore Cam LaClair (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) to retake the lead at 48-47, and LaClair scored at 14:52 to make it a three-point advantage.
Cortland's Kendall Arcuri followed with a triple to tie, and Raymond scored inside to go up 52-50. The teams traded leads, and Cortland eventually went ahead by six after a Wilson three at 6:56. Baskets from Cohen and LaClair gave Oneonta a 74-73 lead with 1:01 remaining. Aaron Coston scored to force a Oneonta timeout. Hobson knocked down the triple with 21 seconds to make it 77-75, and then hit two free throws to pick up the victory.
Cohen led Oneonta off the bench with a career-high 24 points while going 6-for-10 for threes. LaClair added 19 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Herlihy finished with a career-high 16 points, and Cortez had ten points with four assists. Senior Delano Knox (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) led the team with seven rebounds.
Coston led Cortland with 24 points, while Arcuri had 13 points and eight rebounds. Wilson finished with 11 points, and Leveille had ten.
Oneonta is back to host Oswego on Tuesday, January 13, at 7:30 p.m.
