PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Edward Correa scored 20 points to lead five double-figure scorers as Plattsburgh defeated Cortland, 88-71, in a SUNYAC contest at Memorial Hall.
Plattsburgh improved to 17-4 overall and is tied with Geneseo for second in the SUNYAC standings at 11-3. Cortland is now 12-10 overall and 7-8 in the league with three regular-season games left. Cortland and Buffalo State are tied for sixth place in the conference. Oneonta is fourth at 9-7 and Oswego is fifth at 8-7. The top six teams qualify for the league playoffs, with the third and fourth seeds hosting quarterfinal games and the top two seeds getting byes into the semifinals.
Correa made 7-of-11 field goals, including 5-of-8 from the 3-point line. He scored 16 points in the first half as the Cardinals took a 52-25 halftime lead. Shamoy McIntosh finished with 16 points, John Perez and Ezra Hodgson tallied 15 points each and Shavar Fields added 10 points. Chris Manning dished out seven assists.
Sophomore
Blair Estarfaa (Buffalo/Maryvale) led Cortland with a career-high 22 points. He hit three 3-pointers in seven attempts and was 7-of-12 overall from the floor. Senior
Kevin McMahon (Hoosick Falls) recorded 13 points and seven rebounds and junior
Lamard Herron (Westbury) scored 12 points. Freshmen
Tyree Glascoe (West Hempstead) and
Chris Williams (Bronx/Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy) finished with seven points each.
Plattsburgh shot 65 percent in the first half, including 8-of-12 from 3-point range, and finished the game at 54 percent overall and 48 percent (10-of-21) from the arc. Cortland shot 40 percent overall but only 15 percent (4-of-26) from downtown.
Cortland trailed 54-25 with 19:14 left before going on a 19-5 run over the next five-plus minutes to pull within 15 with 13:42 left. Estarfaa scored 11 points and Herron tallied six points during that stretch. The Red Dragons, however, were not able to get any closer until an Estarfaa layup with 3:37 remaining made the score 79-65. Plattsburgh's lead was at least 13 the rest of the game.
Cortland will play at Potsdam Saturday at 4 p.m. and will finish the regular season with home games next Tuesday (Feb. 18) versus Geneseo and next Saturday (Feb. 22) against Oswego.
Box Score/Play-by-Play
