Cortland Standard .net

DRYDEN — A nifty little balancing act carried the Tompkins Cortland Community College men’s basketball team to victory on Wednesday night.
The Panthers had a half-dozen players score at least nine points in an 85-57 home court romp past Jefferson CC, improving to 3-5 in the Mid-State Athletic Conference and 7-11 overall in the process.
Rob Mills led the way with a 21-point performance, 15 of those coming when he swished five 3-pointers in the second half when the Panthers posted 50 points.
The first half was full of big runs.
Jefferson (2-5 MSAC, 3-16 overall) jumped out to an 11-3 lead before the Panthers scored 13 straight to lead 16-11. After eight straight for Jefferson, TC3 went on a 19-0 run to take a 35-19 lead late in the half.
The Cannoneers from Watertown cut the margin to ten with 14 minutes left in the second half, but TC3 slowly extended the lead, reaching twenty points at 68-48 with 4:40 left. Another run to close the game made the final 85-57. To go along with Mills’ hot hand, Joshua Spence finished with 16 points to go along with seven rebounds for the Panthers. Khalid Brooks-Brown added 13 points, Nicc Johnson had 10 points and six rebounds and Roki Mendoza Familia had nine points and 13 rebounds. Kevin Williams almost had a double-double for the Panthers with nine points and eight rebounds.
Javon Hunter topped Jefferson with 14 points, as the visitors shot just 30 percent from the floor.
TC3 WOMEN were giving up nearly four inches of height per starter, and came up short against Jefferson CC in Wednesday’s nightcap losing 72-40.
The Panthers fall to 2-6 in conference play and 5-12 overall. Jefferson — the No. 5 ranked team in Region III — is now 13-5 overall and 6-1 in the MSAC.
Kathleen Coloney scored 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots for Jefferson. Alyssa Crosby had 17 points, 17 rebounds and also blocked five TC3 shots.
Kristin McGraw added 18 points for Jefferson, all on 3-pointers.
The Panther kept it close for most of the first half, trading the lead three times before the visitors closed out the first half with a 19-8 run to lead 43-25 at the break. The Panthers stiffened up on the defensive end in the second half, but couldn’t close the gap as the two-game winning streak came to an end.
Jenna Bowman led the Panthers with 12 points, while adding five steals, four assists, and three rebounds. Kaitlin Gorton and Mariah Crawford each had seven points, while Loriel Pinckney grabbed eight rebounds.
TC3 teams play at SUNY Broome Saturday.