Cayuga Wins Thriller at TCCC
Deonte Holder's 31 points and late free throws from Scott Minnoe and Jacob Ramirez pushed the Cayuga Community College Men's Basketball Team to a road win Saturday over Tompkins Cortland Community College.
The Spartans overcame a small halftime deficit to secure a 78-71 win over the Panthers (5-17, 1-11), snapping a five-game losing streak. The win improves Cayuga's record to 8-14 overall and 4-7 in the conference.
"We did a much better job defensively in the second half. We switched to a match-up zone and face-guarded their leading scorer, and we held them to 30 points in the second half," said Coach Tony Borges. "We turned it over too much, but it was a good win."
The Panthers and Spartans played an even first half, trading the lead throughout. Cayuga held a five-point lead with 2:20 remaining, but a Tompkins three-pointer with five seconds left gave the Panthers a 41-40 lead at the break.
Cayuga raced out on a 9-0 run in the first two minutes of the second half and held the lead until the Panthers knotted the score at 65 with 3:12 left. However, five straight points from Holder put Cayuga back in front.
Leading 72-67 with 1:12 left on the clock, Cayuga committed back-to-back turnovers that the Panthers converted to pull to 72-71 with 46 seconds remaining. The Spartans responded by forcing turnovers on consecutive Panthers' possessions, though, with Minnoe and Ramirez going a combined six-for-six from the foul line to secure the win.
Holder added eight rebounds and four assists to go with his 31 points. Stanley Beato finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, Minnoe had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Ramirez had 10 points, four assists and four steals.
Cayuga plays its final game of the regular season on Tuesday, February 18, when they travel to Onondaga Community College (22-3, 10-0), to play the 6th-ranked Lazers. Tip-off is 7 p.m.