ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Union College men's basketball team started the 2022-23 season on Friday evening at the Mike Daley Memorial Tournament, falling to SUNY Cortland by an 87-69 score at Nazareth College's Kidera Gymnasium.

Senior Mike Manley led three Union (0-1) players in double figures with 18 points, followed by classmate Brian Noone with 13 points and junior Luke McGarrity with 12 off the bench. Cortland (2-0) was led by Austin Grunder, who recorded a game-high 30 points and 11 rebounds, and Cam Williams, who netted 20 points.

Manley opened the season with a bucket on Union's opening possession, but Cortland followed with six straight points to take back the lead. The advantage went back Union's way when sophomore Aidan McGee capped a 7-0 run with a layup to make the score 17-15 with 11:54 to go, but Grunder hit a three on the next possession and the Red Dragons remained in front for the rest of the half. The deficit was only one with 94 seconds left following a bucket by senior Justin Regis, but six straight points put Cortland up by seven at the break.

Manley had nearly half of Union's points in the opening 20 minutes, hitting 6-of-7 shots from the field and 4-of-5 attempts from long range for 16 points. As a team, Union shot 48.3 percent (14 of 29) from the field, but Cortland got to the line 15 times and hit 11 to take a lead into the second stanza.

The Cortland lead was still seven 2:47 into the second half before the Red Dragons broke the game open with a 17-4 run, taking a 64-44 lead with 13:15 on the clock on a Kareen Lubin layup. The lead grew to as many as 27 points in the second half on a Grunder three-point play with 4:47 remaining, but nine points by first-year Lemar Fulmore Jr. helped to lower the deficit to 19 by the final buzzer.

Union did not shoot poorly on the day, hitting 26 of 54 attempts (48.1 percent), but Cortland shot a similar percentage (30 of 63) from the field and hit nearly half of their long-range attempts (12 of 26). The Red Dragons also posted a 40-26 edge on the glass, resulting in a 22-4 advantage in second-chance points. 

Union will be back in action tomorrow in the consolation round, taking on the loser of tonight's second game between Nazareth and Gordon tomorrow at 1 p.m.