Knights Basketball split first two SUNYAC games over the weekend
Senior guard Cole Kattan of SUNY Geneseo’s men’s basketball team played a pivotal role in both of the squad’s games to open SUNYAC play on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1-2, 2023 (Courtesy of GeneseoKnights.com).
Geneseo’s men’s basketball team split a two-game homestand over the weekend. The Knights suffered their third defeat of the season after falling on Friday, Dec. 1, to SUNY New Paltz 73-69. However, they rebounded with a 78-74 overtime victory against SUNY Oneonta the next day, on Saturday, Dec. 2. The Knights’ season record currently sits at 4-3 with a 1-1 record against State University of New York Conference (SUNYAC) opponents.
The first half of their game against New Paltz was highly contested, with the Knights and Hawks each going on multi-point runs. The Knights were down early in the period after the Hawks put together a 12-4 run to kick off the frame, but recovered and went on a 15-0 scoring spree to take the lead for themselves. The highly competitive first half concluded with the score tied at 37.
Geneseo got off to a quick start in the second half thanks to four straight points from freshman guard Robert Pericolosi before a three from senior guard Cole Kattan built the lead to seven. Unfortunately, the Hawks would respond with another run of their own to take a five-point lead, 53-48.
With just four and a half minutes left in the game, it seemed like the Knights would hold onto their win after junior guard Sebastian Pacheco nailed a pair of free throws to give the team a six-point lead. However, the Hawks responded with one final run and stole the game with a 73-69 comeback victory. Despite the loss, the Knights racked up some impressive numbers: Kattan led the Knights in scoring on the night with 22 points, while freshman guard Josh Garelle added 14, and Pacheco and Pericolosi each chipped in another 10 apiece.
In their second game of the weekend against SUNY Oneonta, the Knights got off to a hot start: Garelle and senior guard Michael Gentile combined for a quick five points for an early 17-10 score in favor of Geneseo. The Knights’ biggest lead of the half was 12 points, but after a late run from the Red Dragons, their lead diminished to only two with the score at 29-27 at the end of the half.
In a similar situation to the game the night prior, the Knights found themselves with a late six-point lead over the Red Dragons with just two minutes left to play. Miraculously, Oneonta would end up sending the game to overtime after some clutch defensive stops and free throws.
Things began to look bleak after the Red Dragons scored the first basket in overtime. However, the Knights weren’t deterred as Kattan hit a massive three-pointer to snatch the lead back for Geneseo in overtime. The basket seemed to inspire the Knights as Pacheco drained another three later in the period. Geneseo sealed the win with a clutch defensive stop and a pair of free throws from senior guard Raymond Grabowski.
Pacheco led all scorers in the game with 24 points and secured a double-double with 11 rebounds. Garelle and Gentile each tallied double-digit points, scoring 13 and 10, respectively.
The Knights will look to continue their win streak when they hit the road to play St. Lawrence University on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 2 p.m.