CAZENOVIA, N.Y. - The SUNY Polytechnic Men's Basketball Team (9-12, 8-5 NEAC) served a cold (isn't everything, this time of year?) dish of revenge to the Cazenovia Wildcats (9-12, 7-6 NEAC) on Wednesday night, besting the home team 64-54 in a potentially crucial win for SUNY Poly's playoff hopes.

As opposed to the dramatic 90-82 overtime loss SUNY Poly suffered at home against the Wildcats on January 28th, the visiting team seemed determined to avoid drama in Wednesday's win. The visiting Wildcats got out to a lead in the first half and kept it the rest of the way. SUNY Poly kept the home team at arm's length throughout the second half, holding an average lead of 7 to 12 points. Cazenovia was able to cut the lead to five with 54 seconds to play but could draw no closer.

Leading the way for SUNY Poly was rookie Ryan McCarthy. McCarthy netted 21 points on six 3-pointers, including a big one at the end of the first half to give the Wildcats a 29-24 lead and some momentum heading into the second half.

McCarthy was deadly, connecting on 6 of 10 from long range and hitting 3 for 4 from the free throw line. The guard also tied Kaleel Johnson for the team lead in rebounds with 8.

Johnson, for his part, had a solid game in a bit of a different role for the junior, coming off the bench to score 11 points and grab 8 rebounds. The change seemed to suit the junior, who still played 30 minutes but was able to avoid some of the foul trouble that has plagued him in the past.

Maverick Hodge joined McCarthy and Johnson as the only other Wildcat in double-figures, scoring 13 points and dishing out a team-high 5 assists.

The real story of the game for the visitors, however, was ball control and defense. The Wildcats attempted 8 fewer field goals than the home team but got better looks, connecting on 45% of their attempts as opposed to just 32% for the home team. A big part of that was the team's ability to keep speedy Cazenovia guard Malik Adair-Mountain relatively in check. Adair-Mountain scored 11 points on a 4 of 15 shooting night, down from his January 28th performance in which he went off for more than 20 points.

Bottling up Adair-Mountain enabled SUNY Poly to survive the monster performance of Ryan Gavin, who recorded a big double-double with 19 points and 18 rebounds.

The Wildcats will now kick off a four-game home stand that will take them to the end of the regular season. They host Lancaster Bible College this Friday at 7:00 pm.