CORTLAND, N.Y. – Anthony Williams (Brooklyn) scored 14 points and Travis Gorham (Bridgeport, CT) finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds as Plattsburgh, ranked 11th nationally in Division III by D3hoops.com, held off a late Cortland rally to defeat the Red Dragons, 56-53.
The Cardinals extended their winning streak to 15 games and are now 22-2 overall and 15-0 in the SUNYAC with one regular season game remaining. Plattsburgh clinched the top seed for next week's SUNYAC tournament with the victory. Cortland is now 18-6 and 11-4.
Carson Niehoff (West Islip) led the Red Dragons with a game-high 19 points. He had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but his leaning three-pointer bounced off the back of the rim at the buzzer.
Cortland trailed by 14 points, 44-30, with 11:09 remaining and was still down nineat 51-42 with 2:14 left. A Mike Lewis (Central Square) layup and a Niehoff three-pointer closed the gap to four with 1:14 left. Khylan Hunt (Saratoga Springs) made two free throws for Plattsburgh, but Niehoff hit two foul shots with 50 seconds left and, following a missed charity toss by the Cardinals, made a driving layup with 37 seconds remaining to pull the Red Dragons within two.
Gorham hit the second of two foul shots with 34 seconds left to put Plattsburgh up by three, but Niehoff was fouled with 20 seconds left and sank both foul shots to draw the Red Dragons within a point.
Antwane Miller (Brooklyn/Paul Robeson) connected on two foul shots with 19 seconds left and Cortland set up for a potential tying three-pointer. Plattsburgh pressured the perimeter and didn't give the Red Dragons a clean look, and Niehoff's forced trey missed and was rebounded by Miller at the buzzer.
Plattsburgh held Cortland to 29 percent shooting from the field, 19 percent in the first half. The Cardinals finished the first half on an 11-2 run over the final seven minutes to turn a three-point deficit into a 26-20 lead. Plattsburgh then outscored Cortland 11-3 to start the second half and led 37-23 with 16:18 remaining.
Williams entered the game ranked seventh in Division III at 24.1 points per game, but made only 5-of-20 shots and finished 10 points below his average before fouling out with less than a minute remaining. Williams was second on the team, though, with nine rebounds and Hunt recorded 13 points and six rebounds.
Lewis scored all eight of his points in the second half for Cortland. Will Coston (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley) finished with eight points and four steals.
Cortland hosts Potsdam Saturday at 4 p.m., while Plattsburgh plays at SUNYIT at 4 p.m.
Box Score/Play-by-Play
