Jason Leone could not have called a timeout faster. As soon as the shot went in the net, the Oswego head coach was halfway onto the court, signaling a timeout and shouting unpleasantries at the referee before the ball had even hit the floor.
This came after Isaiah Austin had just buried a deep three, putting an exclamation point on a 16-2 Red Dragons run, just four and a half minutes into the championship game.
The Lakers’ bench looked puzzled, wondering how this could possibly have gotten out of hand so quickly. Both of these teams’ regular-season meetings were competitive, including a game that went to double overtime in December. The difference this time around? The crowd.
In the days leading up to last weekend’s conference tournament, flyers popped up all over campus. They were pinned on bulletin boards and scattered across dining hall tables, encouraging students to attend Cortland’s semifinal matchup against Plattsburgh.
Being that it was the first SUNYAC tournament hosted by Cortland in 13 years, the team was looking for a big turnout from the fans.
They got just that, as students showed up in droves to Friday night’s contest.
The student section, made up mainly of football players who occupied much of the first three rows, was treated to a lopsided Cortland victory, where the Red Dragons dominated the Cardinals in the paint and on the glass on the way to a 96-71 final.
After the game, Cortland quarterback Mike Rescigno received an Instagram DM from Head basketball coach Mo Kearney, which read, “Appreciate y’all, might as well run it back tomorrow.”
So naturally, Rescigno rallied the troops, and the team piled into the bleachers for Saturday’s championship game. They were decked out in old Cortland basketball jerseys and surrounded by a sea of Oswego parents.
“There is mutual respect amongst all athletes that we understand the rigors of being a student athlete,” said Rescigno. “Being at those games is as important to us as fans as it is to them as players because we know the work it took to get there.”
The support was felt by the entire team, including senior captain Kendall Arcuri.
“Cortland is a place where everyone seems to be supportive, no matter what sport or club you play,” Arcuri said. “Every team cheers for the others because at the end of the day, we are all teammates.”
Players fed off the support all game long, as seen after Austin’s three, when Joel Davis stopped at mid-court, looked towards the student section, and began to wave his arms up and down, hyping up the already raucous crowd.
A little later, Xavier Leveille ignited the crowd again when he got up for an alley-oop from fellow freshman Nolan Raymond. And of course, when Aaron Coston had the crowd yelling “boom,” and holding up three fingers each time he hit one of his career high, six three pointers.
But perhaps the moment the crowd got most involved came in the closing minutes of the game. Cortland’s lead allowed Coach Kearney to sub in some of the younger players who don’t get as many minutes, and also allowed the seniors to receive a much-deserved ovation upon exiting their final home game.
The first to go was Arcuri, who later described how he wants to be remembered after his career is over.
“One thing I hope people remember about my legacy is that I did whatever it took to win,” Arcuri said. “I was and will always be willing to sacrifice other things to make the winning play.”
Fittingly, the final play of Arcuri’s career at Corey gymnasium came with just under eight minutes to play, when he drew a charge on Oswego’s Deacon Judd, putting his body on the line for his team, while ahead by 26 points.
Next to go was Austin, who has delivered several memorable performances in front of the home crowd. Like last year’s 40-point performance against Fredonia, which featured a barrage of three pointers, or his 30-point outing against Morrisville in January.
Then it was Coston and Gaige Armbrewster’s turn. As they headed to the bench together, the crowd rose to their feet, giving both All-Tournament team members a standing ovation.
Armbrewster didn’t miss a single shot during the tournament and set a career high with 15 points against Plattsburgh.
Coston has played the best basketball of his career over the past month and shows no signs of slowing down. The big man was a matchup nightmare for Plattsburgh and Oswego on both ends of the floor, on his way to earning tournament MVP.
Together on the bench with time winding down, the seniors watched as teammates Frank DeStefano and Joe Evangelista drilled three-pointers, which sent the bench into a frenzy and had the crowd jumping up and down, chanting “we are C-State.”
Saturday’s championship ended with Cortland cutting down the nets for the second year in a row, for the first time in school history.
“My class and I are very close, so it was amazing to be able to go back-to-back with them,” Arcuri said. “We all got to have one last amazing experience in the gym that we all came together in.”