Senior Ben Oliver (Batavia) scored 13 points, 10 in the first half, for the Lakers. Ponza played only three minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls, but recorded eight points and eight rebounds in 16 second-half minutes. Sophomore Mat Burridge (Oswego/Hannibal) added 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
Cortland was led by sophomore Dave Jutton's (Red Hook) 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range. Junior Frank Ranieri (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) scored 12 points and dished out four assists and junior Simon Skrelja (Hastings-on-Hudson/Hastings) pulled down 10 rebounds.
Cortland led 29-27 at halftime and took a 35-29 lead on Ranieri's layup with 17;18 remaining. Oswego went on an 18-3 run over the next 10 minutes, capped by a Ponza layup, to take a 47-38 lead. Cortland narrowed the margin to three points on Jutton's three-pointer with 2:23 left and again at 51-48 on a Ranieri layup with 1:36 left.
The Red Dragons got the ball back but missed a driving layup with 52 seconds left that would have cut the Oswego lead to one. Cortland tried to hold the Lakers on their next possession, but Ponza hit a tough turnaround jumper in the lane with 18 seconds left and the shot clock running down to give the Lakers a five-point lead. Following a Cortland missed shot, Oswego's Ahmad Mims (Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) was fouled and hit a free throw with seven seconds left. He missed the second shot, but put in his own rebound to create the final margin.
SUNY Oswego vs SUNY Cortland 2/25/05 6 p.m. at Utica, NY (Utica Memorial Auditorium) SUNY OSWEGO 56, SUNY CORTLAND 48 SUNY OSWEGO (22-5) OLIVER, Ben 4-9 2-2 13; PONZA, Dave 6-12 0-0 12; BURRIDGE, Mat 6-10 0-0 12; MIMS, Ahmad 3-12 1-2 8; PERIOLI, Nicholas 3-10 0-0 6; ROBERSON, Erik 1-2 0-0 3; CONSTANCE, Jake 1-3 0-0 2; FRANZE, Todd 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 3-4 56. SUNY CORTLAND (18-9) JUTTON, Dave 5-11 0-0 15; RANIERI, Frank 5-12 2-2 12; HEADLEY, Rod 3-10 2-2 8; KIRCHHOFF, Brian 2-9 1-1 6; O'GARROW, Justin 2-5 0-0 5; SKRELJA, Simon 1-5 0-0 2; JANKIEWICZ, Michael 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 18-55 5-5 48. SUNY Oswego................... 25 31 - 56 SUNY Cortland................. 27 21 - 48 3-point goals-SUNY Oswego 5-14 (OLIVER, Ben 3-4; MIMS, Ahmad 1-5; ROBERSON, Erik 1-2; PERIOLI, Nicholas 0-3), SUNY Cortland 7-19 (JUTTON, Dave 5-10; O'GARROW, Justin 1-2; KIRCHHOFF, Brian 1-5; JANKIEWICZ, Michael 0-1; RANIERI, Frank 0-1). Fouled out--SUNY Oswego-None, SUNY Cortland-None. Rebounds-SUNY Oswego 37 (PONZA, Dave 10), SUNY Cortland 32 (SKRELJA, Simon 10). Assists-SUNY Oswego 13 (MIMS, Ahmad 4), SUNY Cortland 8 (RANIERI, Frank 4). Total fouls-SUNY Oswego 13, SUNY Cortland 13. A-376