MARCY, N.Y. – The SUNY Poly men's basketball team (6-11, 5-4 NEAC) wasn't able to pull off the comeback against SUNY Cobleskill (9-8, 7-2 NEAC) Saturday afternoon. Their late rally wasn't enough as the visiting team walked away with their 8th straight victory.
The Wildcats and Fighting Tigers started the game by exchanging points until Cobleskill pulled away. They led by as much as 13 until SUNY Poly started chipping away at their lead. The home team was able to close the gap down the stretch with the help of Ryan McCarthy (Camden, N.Y. / Camden). McCarthy put up two clutch threes in the closing minutes, one at the buzzer, to go into the locker room trailing 33-28.
SUNY Poly continued to pick away at Cobleskill's lead throughout the second half. With 7:39 to play Kaleel Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y. / Syr. Acad. of Science) made two free throws to get within one of the lead. The two teams battled for the rest of the game while Cobleskill slowly pulled away. The Wildcats weren't able to close the gap again and fell to the Fighting Tigers 69-59.
McCarthy led all scorers with 21 points, 12 of which came from three-pointers. He also led the team in rebounds with 9. Michael Boyea (Chateaugay, N.Y. / Chateaugay) added 12 points and an assist. Maverick Hodge (Bronx, N.Y. / Samuel Gompers) helped his team on both ends of the court with 9 points, 4 assists, 6 rebounds and 6 steals.
SUNY Poly returns to action on Tuesday at Morrisville St. at 7:00 pm.