Spartans Struggle Late in Loss to Cannoneers

Late struggles on both ends of the court were costly for the Cayuga Community College Men's Basketball Team on Tuesday as the Spartans lost 82-69 to the Jefferson Community College Cannoneers. 

Tied at 63 with 6:30 left in the second half, the Spartans went cold from the field and the Cannoneers (10-4, 2-1) closed the game on a 19-6 run. The loss drops Cayuga's record to 4-9 on the season and 0-2 in the Mid-State Athletic Conference.

Both teams struggled offensively to start the contest, but Jefferson built an early nine-point lead. The Spartans fought back late in the first half, though, as their defense slowed the Cannoneers and Cayuga freshman forward Isaiah Landres connected on a pair of and-ones with less than three minutes remaining. 

Cayuga took the lead with nine seconds left in the first half on two Landres free throws, and led 35-34 at the break.

The teams traded baskets and the lead for the first 13 minutes of the second half, with Jefferson tying the game at 63 and then taking a two-point lead with less than six minutes left. The Cannoneers shifted to a zone defense and took control down the stretch, as Cayuga struggled from the field.

"I thought we played alright. We started to slow down toward the end of the second half, and their zone defense gave us some trouble. We started shooting jump shots instead of driving the ball to the paint, and we had some bad shot selection that led to easy buckets for them," said Cayuga Coach Tony Borges.

Landres led Cayuga with 21 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Deonte Holder scored 16 points with five rebounds and four assists. Stanley Beato tallied 13 points with six rebounds, Scott Minnoe had 11 points and seven rebounds, and Jacob Ramirez added six assists.

The Spartans will look to secure their first conference win at home on Thursday, January 16, when they face the SUNY Broome Community College Hornets (5-10, 0-2). Tip-off is 7 p.m. in Spartan Hall.