The Cortland Men’s basketball team ended their season on Saturday, February 21st, with a dominant win against Morrisville Mustangs, 90-60. This gave them their 21st and last win of the season to go along with just four losses giving them the number one seed in the SUNYAC division.
The Red Dragons had some major competition in their division, but persevered through it all, losing just one out of the 18 games they played in the SUNYAC division against the fellow Red Dragons of Oneonta. They are in the same division as teams like Oswego who have had plenty of good seasons and Plattsburgh who have also had luck in their respected seasons.
The Red Dragons ended their season on a 13-game win streak including a 104-41 win against Potsdam on the Red Dragons senior night. Junior forward, Joel Davis went off in that game with a dominating 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds, giving him a double-double. Another key factor in that game was Senior guard, Isaiah Austin who had 17 points including five three pointers.
This type of leadership has been a key factor of the success of this basketball team from the start. They are led by their seniors such as Aaron Coston and Kendall Arcuri who come into ever game like it’s their last. Both of them earned ALL-SUNYAC honors last year as juniors and it seems like they will repeat this year.
Aaron Coston also just got named Division Three national player of the week on February 17th. He is a senior forward out of Kerhonkson and has been a vital source of the Red Dragons success this year along with reaching the 1,000-point mark. Aaron also had his career high this year with 32 points on February 14th against Oswego and will be the key factor in their push to a national championship.
Another key piece of success for this team in the senior forward, Kendall Arcuri. Arcuri has had success on the offensive side as well as the defensive. He also reached the 1,000-point milestone this season along with a career high on February 6th with 24 points against Plattsburg. He managed to record an impressive six steals on November 25th against St. John Fisher. Another key piece to the success of this team as they attempt to take home the title for the Red Dragons.
The Cortland men’s basketball team has not had the best luck when it comes to the NCAA tournament, never making it past the sweet sixteen. They have had seven tournament appearances and just two sweet appearances. Despite their faulty luck when it comes to the NCAA tournament, they are eight-time conference championship winners, and it looks like they plan to add to that.
Due to them being the number one seed, the Red Dragons will have a bye go right to the final four of their divisional tournaments where they will face the winner of new Paltz and Plattsburgh. The final four game will take place at home in Cortland on February 28th.