News Release

UTICA, N.Y. — Nick Grimmer scored 29 points, 17 in the second half, as SUNYIT rallied from an early 16-point deficit to defeat Cortland, 61-60, to complete a season sweep of the Red Dragons.

Grimmer's three-pointer with 2:22 remaining gave the Wildcats (13-10, 7-7 SUNYAC) a 61-57 lead. Cortland (15-8, 7-7) drew back to within a point on a Brian Kirchhoff three-pointer with 53 seconds left. SUNYIT turned the ball over with 19 seconds remaining, but the Wildcats pressured the Red Dragons defensively and did not allow Cortland to get off a potential game-winning shot.

Cortland led 24-8 with 10:49 left in the first half and held a 29-15 lead with 7:50 remaining. A 10-0 run got SUNYIT back to within 29-25 with 2:46 left in the half and the Wildcats trailed by six, 35-29, at halftime.

The Red Dragons led 41-31 after a Frank Ranieri free throw with 16:25 remaining, but SUNYIT went on a 12-1 run and took their first lead of the game at 43-42 on Malcolm Stanton's three-pointer with 13:14 left.

Neither team led by more than four points the rest of the game. Cortland's final lead came at 57-56 with 3:02 left on a layup by Jon Rother. Ranieri's three-pointer a minute earlier had cut a four-point lead to one. Grimmer hit a jumper with 2:46 left to give SUNYIT the lead for good at 58-57 before adding his three-pointer at the 2:22 mark.

Cortland missed a shot with 2:06 left and turned the ball over with 1:27 remaining. The Wildcats missed two shots on their next possession. Cortland misfired on a layup with 57 seconds left, but Dave Jutton grabbed the offensive rebound and fed Kirchhoff for the trey that brought the Red Dragons within a point.

The SUNYAC scoring leader, Grimmer finished 12-of-24 from the floor, 4-of-9 from three-point range. Stanton recorded 11 points and 10 assists.

Ranieri led Cortland with 16 points, 12 in the second half. Rother tallied 14 points and eight rebounds and Justin O'Garrow finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Jutton had eight points, a team-high six assists and three steals and Kirchhoff added eight points.

SUNY Cortland vs SUNY Inst. of Tech.
2/17/04 8 p.m. at Utica, NY (SUNYIT)

SUNY INST. OF TECH. 61, SUNY CORTLAND 60

SUNY CORTLAND (15-8, 7-7 SUNYAC)
RANIERI, Frank 6-10 3-6 16; ROTHER, Jon 6-16 0-0 14; O'GARROW, Justin 3-5
2-4 10; JUTTON, Dave 3-10 0-0 8; KIRCHHOFF, Brian 3-8 0-0 8; ORTQUIST, Erik
1-1 0-0 2; HEADLEY, Rodney 1-5 0-1 2; WOODS, Brandon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-56
5-11 60.

SUNY INST. OF TECH. (13-10,7-7 SUNYAC)
GRIMMER, Nick 12-24 1-1 29; STANTON, Malcolm 4-7 0-1 11; LEON, Leonardo 4-10
0-0 9; WHEATON, Todd 3-5 0-0 6; PLANTE, Chris 1-5 0-0 3; BUCKLEY, Jerry 1-7
0-0 2; PHILLIPS, Rich 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 25-60 2-4 61.

SUNY Cortland.................   35   25  -   60
SUNY Inst. of Tech............   29   32  -   61

3-point goals-SUNY Cortland 9-23 (O'GARROW, Justin 2-2; ROTHER, Jon 2-4;
KIRCHHOFF, Brian 2-6; JUTTON, Dave 2-9; RANIERI, Frank 1-2), SUNY Inst. of
Tech. 9-26 (GRIMMER, Nick 4-9; STANTON, Malcolm 3-5; LEON, Leonardo 1-5;
PLANTE, Chris 1-4; BUCKLEY, Jerry 0-3). Fouled out--SUNY Cortland-None, SUNY
Inst. of Tech.-None. Rebounds-SUNY Cortland 32 (ROTHER, Jon 8), SUNY Inst.
of Tech. 38 (BUCKLEY, Jerry 12). Assists-SUNY Cortland 15 (JUTTON, Dave 6),
SUNY Inst. of Tech. 14 (STANTON, Malcolm 10). Total fouls-SUNY Cortland 15,
SUNY Inst. of Tech. 12. A-175