UTICA, N.Y. – The Cobleskill Fighting Tigers (2-18, 2-8 NEAC) capitalized on a three-pointer late in the first half to take their first lead of the night, building upon the play into the second half to win 80-72 Wednesday night. SUNYIT (3-16, 2-7 NEAC) is now in a three-way tie for fourth place in the NEAC North Division, along with Cazenovia and SUNY Cobleskill.
As has happened all too often in the 2011-12 season for SUNYIT, the Wildcats fell victim to volatile momentum swings. SUNYIT sprinted out to a 9-0 lead in the first 2:05 of the game. Minutes later, though, the lead had evaporated. SUNYIT would slug it out the rest of the half until a Brendan Doherty three-pointer with 37 seconds to play gave Cobleskill their first lead of the game.
Gromilic continued his hot-shooting (particularly in the first half) with 15 points on 6 for 11 from the field. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, his twine-tickling was tempered by 4 turnovers against a tenacious half-court press by Cobleskill.
After Cobleskill stretched the lead to its largest margin of the night at 53-39 with 12:22 to play, the Wildcats fought back, and were down just three after a pair of T'Andre Richardson (Utica, N.Y. / Utica-Proctor) free throws with 6:48 remaining. But SUNYIT simply could not get the big shot they needed down the stretch, and Cobleskill went 6 for 8 from the free throw line down over the last two minutes to salt the game away.
Cobleskill's accuracy from long-range proved the dagger for SUNYIT. The Fighting Tigers hit 10 of 22 shots from beyond the arc for a 46% clip. Brendan Doherty accounted for six of those threes himself, landing 6 of 11 from long range and finishing with a game-high 25 points. Tarik Payton added 16, and Alexis Nunez came off the bench with 14 points as the Fighting Tigers shot a sizzling 54% from the floor for the game.
Gromilic continued his strong offensive play of late, scoring over 20 points for the third straight game. The point guard from Bosnia pulled down 8 rebounds to go along with his team-high 22 points. Also contributing for the Wildcats were Richardson with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and Justin Brignola (Clifton Park, N.Y. / Shenendehowa) with 11 points.
The Wildcats will face off with NEAC South Division foe Penn St.-Berks on Saturday. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm in the Campus Center Gymnasium.
