Dallas, Pa.: The SUNY Cobleskill men's basketball team took to the road on Monday evening to close out the non-league portion of their schedule coming back from a 15-point first half deficit to post an 85-80 comeback win over the host Cougars of Misericordia University to snap a two-game losing streak. With the win the Fighting Tigers are now 15-6 overall on the year while the Cougars drop to 10-9 overall on the campaign.

The Fighting Tigers trailed 27-12 at the 9:41 mark of the first half as the Cougars nailed five of their first six three-point efforts as Cobleskill struggled on both ends of the floor early. The visitors then went on a 20-8 run to cut the lead to 35-32 on a three-pointer by junior guard Andre Starks, Rochester, N.Y., Fairport High School/Corning Community College, with 1:28 left in the half. However, the home team took advantage of a pair of Cobleskill defensive breakdowns to take a 40-32 lead into the break.

The second half saw the contest seesaw back and forth with nine lead changes and four ties, as the Fighting Tigers turned the tables on their hosts connecting on 21-of-32 shots from the field, 63.6%, including 5-of-6, 83.3% from three-point range in the stanza.

The Orange & Black took the lead for good with 6:52 remaining on a three-point field goal by first-year swingman Jeremy Rosario, Colonie, N.Y., Colonie High School, making the score 67-65 then spent the rest of the game fighting off a number of Cougar comeback attempts to secure the victory.

Cobleskill cemented the win in the last minute when leading 81-80 junior center Markel Jenkins, Elmira, N.Y., Elmira High School/Corning Community College, scored a lay-up off penetration on a feed from junior guard Iziah Pigott, Brooklyn, N.Y., Urban Assembly High School/Dutchess Community College, making it 83-80 with 48 seconds left.

They then clinched the impressive road victory on the next possession when a Cougar long-range shot attempt was rebounded by senior forward Justin Feldman, Chester, N.Y., Chester High School/Orange Community College, who fired a long pass down court to a streaking Jeremy Rosario who slammed it home to make it 85-80 to put the game in the win column.

Andre Starks was the catalyst for the Fighting Tigers with a game high of 20 points to go with four assists while Justin Feldman had 19 points along with seven rebounds and five assists with Markel Jenkins scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds. Jeremy Rosario once again reached double figures in scoring with 12 points to go with three rebounds and a key blocked shot on the evening.  

Cobleskill will next be in action on Friday February 3 when they take to the road again traveling to Marcy, N.Y. for a North Atlantic Conference (NAC) meeting with the Wildcats of the SUNY Polytechnic Institute with tip-off beginning at 7:30 p.m.