News Release

UTICA, N.Y. — Junior Chris Reaves (Syracuse/Henninger) totaled 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists and junior Chris Laboard (Bronx/MVCC) added 16 points as fourth-seeded SUNYIT upset top-seeded Cortland, 81-74, in the semifinal round of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) men’s basketball tournament at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

The Wildcats (16-10) advance to the SUNYAC finals for the first time and will face sixth-seeded Plattsburgh in the title game Saturday at 1 p.m. Cortland (23-4) will await a possible NCAA Division III tournament at-large berth. Those bids will be announced late Sunday evening.

Junior Rod Headley (Peekskill) led Cortland with 22 points, one shy of his career high. He also grabbed eight rebounds, seven off the offensive glass. Senior Frank Ranieri (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) scored 14 points, junior Dave Jutton (Red Hook) added 12 points and senior Scott Taggart (Sidney Center/Franklin) pulled down 13 rebounds.

SUNYIT, which lost twice to Cortland during the regular season, made 9-of-18 three-pointers in the first half, including three by junior Chris Plante (Whitesboro) and two each by Reaves, Laboard and junior Chantal Bien-Aime (Rockland/Rockland CC), and led 50-38 at halftime.

Trailing 54-40 with 18:30 remaining, Cortland went on a 15-0 run over the next 5:02 to take a 54-53 lead. Jutton’s three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt capped the run. Neither team led by more than four points after that until the final 10 seconds. Cortland’s largest lead of the half was 63-59 on two Headley free throws with 10:37 left, and its final lead was 69-68 on Headley’s layup with 5:45 remaining.

SUNYIT took the lead for good on a Reaves layup with 5:34 left. The Wildcats held a 75-71 advantage after two Reaves free throws with 1:15 to go, but Ranieri drained a trey with 57 seconds on the clock to cut the margin to one. Reaves missed a shot on SUNYIT’s next possession, but junior Pat Whalen (Johnson City/Broome CC) put back the rebound to up the lead to three with 35 seconds left.

Cortland missed a layup on its next trip down the court, and Whalen made one of two foul shots with 26 seconds left. The Red Dragons missed a three-pointer with 12 seconds left, and Plante sank three of his final four free throw attempts to close out the game.

SUNY Inst. of Tech. vs SUNY Cortland
2/24/06 3 p.m. at Utica, NY (Utica Memorial Auditorium)

SUNY INST. OF TECH. 81, SUNY CORTLAND 74

SUNY INST. OF TECH. (16-10)
REAVES, Chris 7-18 8-9 24; LABOARD, Chris 6-15 2-5 16; PLANTE, Chris 3-5 4-6
13; GILKES, Antoine 3-5 4-4 10; BIEN-AIME, Chantal 3-6 0-0 8; WHALEN, Pat
3-7 2-3 8; BELONE, Elvis 0-2 2-2 2; BROWN, Chris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58
22-29 81.

SUNY CORTLAND (23-4)
HEADLEY, Rod 7-10 7-9 22; RANIERI, Frank 6-19 0-0 14; JUTTON, Dave 3-8 3-3
12; TAGGART, Scott 3-9 1-1 7; SKRELJA, Simon 3-6 0-2 6; SCHALLER, Mark 1-1
2-2 5; MAGGIACOMO, Dave 1-8 0-0 3; MIOLAN, Juan 1-4 0-0 3; FISH, Derrick 1-1
0-0 2. Totals 26-66 13-17 74.

SUNY Inst. of Tech............   50   31  -   81
SUNY Cortland.................   38   36  -   74

3-point goals-SUNY Inst. of Tech. 9-26 (PLANTE, Chris 3-4; LABOARD, Chris
2-8; REAVES, Chris 2-7; BIEN-AIME, Chantal 2-4; BELONE, Elvis 0-2; WHALEN,
Pat 0-1), SUNY Cortland 9-23 (JUTTON, Dave 3-8; RANIERI, Frank 2-5; HEADLEY,
Rod 1-2; MIOLAN, Juan 1-1; SCHALLER, Mark 1-1; MAGGIACOMO, Dave 1-6). Fouled
out--SUNY Inst. of Tech.-None, SUNY Cortland-SKRELJA, Simon. Rebounds-SUNY
Inst. of Tech. 39 (GILKES, Antoine 12), SUNY Cortland 38 (TAGGART, Scott
13). Assists-SUNY Inst. of Tech. 10 (REAVES, Chris 5), SUNY Cortland 12
(SKRELJA, Simon 3; RANIERI, Frank 3). Total fouls-SUNY Inst. of Tech. 16,
SUNY Cortland 19. A-700