PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Freshman Jesse Winter (Rockville Centre/South Side) scored 19 points to lead three double-figure scorers as Cortland held off Plattsburgh, 78-73, to snap a three-game losing streak.

Senior Paul Oliver (Phoenix) added 13 points and freshman Jeremy Smith (Bronx/Riverdale Kingsbridge) finished with 10 points for the Red Dragons (7-5, 3-2 SUNYAC). Junior Dustin Marshall (Newfield) finished with nine points, five rebounds and three assists and senior Ben Nagle (Rochester/Aquinas Institute) added seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Chris Ruiz (Washington Heights/St. Agnes) paced the host Cardinals (7-5, 2-3 SUNYAC) with 20 points. Carl Munnerlyn (Brooklyn/Canaosie) made 6-of-6 three-pointers, all in the second half, and finished with 18 points and Steve Thomas (Plattsburgh/Northern Adirondack) totaled 14 points, three assists and three steals. Errol Daniyan (Coram/Longwood) chipped in with 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds.

Cortland outscored Plattsburgh 16-4 over the final eight and a half minutes of the first half and led 36-21 at halftime. Winter scored six points during that stretch.

After shooting just 35 percent from the field in the first half, Plattsburgh hit 69 percent (20-of-29) of its second-half shots. The Cardinals were 8-of-9 from three-point range after halftime and finished the game 10-of-14 from behind the arc.

Cortland, however, was able to hold on by shooting 55 percent (12-of-22) in the second half. The Red Dragons made 25-of-33 free throws (76 percent) in the game compared to just 11-of-22 accuracy by the hosts. Smith made 6-of-6 foul shots, while Marshall went 7-for-8 and Winter was 5-for-7.

Trailing by 17 points two minutes into the second half, Plattsburgh clawed back to within 48-40 with 13:06 left. After one Cortland foul shot, Ketema Brooks (Mount Vernon) and Munnerlyn made three-pointers and the Cardinals were down by only three points with 10:47 remaining.

A technical foul on Ruiz, however, and an ensuing Plattsburgh personal foul set up four Smith free throws to give Cortland a 53-46 lead at the 10:23 mark. For the rest of the game, Cortland's advantage was between five and 10 points. Munnerlyn's final three-pointer pulled Plattsburgh within five at 69-64 with 3:34 left, but Oliver's three-point play with three minutes left and a Winter layup with 2:04 on the clock increased the lead to 10. The Cardinals got back to within five only two more times, both in the final 10 seconds.

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