The Panthers men's basketball team came back from 10-points down to lead the #3-ranked team in the nation in the second half, but a big run down the stretch powered Herkimer College to 93-67 defeat of the Panthers in Dryden Saturday. The loss drops Tompkins Cortland to 14-8 while Herkimer now stands at 22-1.

After a back-and-forth start, Herkimer moved to a 31-21 lead late in the half. The Panthers cut the deficit in half but Herkimer pushed it back to 35-27 at the half. The home team came out of the break on fire, going on a 19-5 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 46-40, with 14 minutes left to play. But the offense went cold over the next seven minutes, and Herkimer went on a 33-to-6 run to take command of the game.

Three Panthers scored in double figures, with Bryan Viscaino (Manhattan/Monsignor Scanlon H.S.) putting up a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds. Khai Pugh (Syracuse/Nottingham H.S.) was the high scorer with 16 points, followed by Damari Johnson (Johnson City/Johnson City H.S.) with 14. Dwain Frazier (Jamaica/Jamaica H.S.) posted 10 rebounds.

Looking ahead

The Panthers close out the regular season Wednesday at Onondaga Community College.