Cobleskill, NY – The SUNY Cobleskill men's basketball team opened the 2026-27 season in impressive fashion on Saturday afternoon, placing five players in double figures as the Tigers defeated Mount Saint Mary College, 95-80, inside Iorio Gymnasium.
Newcomer
Marcus Wynter delivered a standout debut for the Fighting Tigers, pouring in a game-high 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting while going a perfect 13-for-13 from the free-throw line. Wynter also filled the stat sheet with seven steals, three assists and three rebounds.
Andrew Wright (Berne, NY) added 14 points and three rebounds while finishing 2-for-2 from the field and 10-for-11 at the line. Junior
Emilio Nabli (Brooklyn, NY) turned in a strong all-around performance with 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal while shooting 4-for-7 from the floor and 2-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Daniel Penubothula (Valley Stream, NY) added 12 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals, while
Zander Poissant (East Greenbush, NY) finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
Kaelan Leak provided a spark off the bench with six points.
Cobleskill shot an efficient 50.8 percent from the field compared to Mount Saint Mary's 43.8 percent. Neither team found much rhythm from long range, with the Tigers shooting 19.2 percent from three and the Knights finishing at 23.1 percent. The biggest difference came at the free-throw line and in transition. Cobleskill went 30-for-38 at the stripe, while Mount Saint Mary finished 10-for-15. The Tigers also forced 26 turnovers and turned them into 33 points, using their pressure and athleticism to create offense in the open floor.
Mount Saint Mary held a 40-35 edge on the glass, including a 12-6 advantage in offensive rebounds, and also led 19-15 in assists and 12-5 in second-chance points. Cobleskill's bench held a 25-14 scoring advantage.
The Tigers came out sharp and built an early 9-4 lead after a Nabli layup. Poissant later pushed the advantage to 15-8 with a finish inside, but the Knights answered with a 9-0 run to take a 17-15 lead midway through the opening half. Mount Saint Mary eventually stretched its lead to 28-21 before Wynter took over. A layup from the newcomer stopped the run, and Wynter went on to score Cobleskill's next 11 points to pull the Tigers even at 34-34 with 2:11 remaining in the half. Cobleskill closed the half with momentum. A Penubothula layup gave the Tigers a 38-34 lead before Leak buried a buzzer-beating three-pointer to send Cobleskill into the break ahead, 41-37.
The Tigers carried that momentum into the second half with an 8-0 run to build a 49-40 advantage in the opening two minutes. Leak connected from deep again to give Cobleskill its first double-digit lead of the half at 59-47. Wright converted an and-one to push the margin to 68-51 with 9:20 remaining as the Tigers began to take control. Nabli kept the pressure on with a pair of key three-pointers, knocking down one at the 6:26 mark to make it 73-59 before hitting another with 4:28 left to extend the lead to 81-63. Mount Saint Mary made one final push and cut the deficit to 81-72, but Penubothula quickly slammed the door. He threw down back-to-back dunks, including a highlight alley-oop from Nabli, to swing the momentum back to Cobleskill and put the game out of reach.
Up Next:
The Fighting Tigers return to action on Wednesday, November 11, when they travel to Elmira College for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
