CORTLAND, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Men's Basketball Team (4-2) came up with an impressive win on the road over the always-formidable Cortland State Red Dragons (4-2) in their final game before the holiday break.
The Wildcats were down 6 points with less than two minutes to play, but rallied to tie the game and send it into overtime.
Ryan James (Saratoga Springs, N.Y. / Saratoga Springs) led the Wildcats with 23 points on the day, and Maverick Hodge (Bronx, N.Y. / Samuel Gompers) added 21 points. Hodge scored the final layup of the second half for the Wildcats, tying the game with 23 seconds left. Hodge scored the final 6 points of the half for the Wildcats.
In overtime, Alexander Drake (West Sand Lake, N.Y. / Lansingburgh) came up big, knocking down two quick three-pointers to help SUNYIT build a five-point lead.
The Red Dragons, nevertheless, would tie the game 77-77 with 57 seconds left. But the home team then fouled Hodge with 33 seconds left – the Wildcat point guard sank both to give SUNYIT the lead for good. Helping to salt the game away were Drake, Hodge, and SUNYIT forward Kaleel Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y. / Syr. Acad. of Science). All three hit clutch free throws in overtime to keep the Wildcats ahead, with Johnson coming up with a huge offensive rebound off a free-throw, and subsequently netting both of his attempts from the charity stripe after being fouled.
The Wildcats will next play on January 7th at Utica College, in a game that was rescheduled. SUNYIT hosted the Pioneers on December 1st, defeating them 90-80 at the Campus Center Gym. Game time for January's matchup has yet to be announced.