CORTLAND, N.Y. -
Justin Cooper (Pine Plains/Stissing Mountain) led Cortland with 23 points and nine rebounds and also added four assists and three steals as the Red Dragons defeated Plattsburgh, 80-59.
Cortland improved to 14-6 overall and 9-4 in SUNYAC play and remains tied for third place with Oneonta in the league standings. Plattsburgh is now 10-10 overall and 6-8 in the conference and is tied for seventh place, one game behind both Buffalo State and Geneseo (each 7-7).
Cooper finished 8-of-11 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and hit all four of his free throws. He has now made 29 consecutive free throws ranging over four games.
Zach Lydon (Elizaville/Stissing Mountain) posted career highs of 17 points (7-of-15 field goals) and five steals and also finished with three blocks and four rebounds.
James Morales (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) scored nine points,
Michael Kelly (Monroe/Burke Catholic) netted eight points and tied his career high with five assists, and
Nicky Bonura (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) also scored eight points.
Justin Prendergast (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) added six points on 3-of-4 shooting and blocked a career high four shots.
Eli Bryant paced Plattsburgh with 20 points. He made 7-of-13 shots, 5-of-9 from behind the arc. Jonathan Patron finished with 19 points (9-of-15 field goals), three assists and five rebounds, and Isaiah Hill chipped in with 11 points.
Cortland led by as many as 12 points in the first half and held a 41-32 halftime lead. Cooper scored 14 of his 23 points in the opening period. The Red Dragons' lead grew to 15 on two Cooper free throws with 11:24 left, but Plattsburgh eventually closed to within eight at 57-49 on a Hill layup with 9:03 remaining.
Morales scored five of Cortland's next seven points to push the lead to 14 at the 7:37 mark. The Cardinals made one more surge back to within 10 at 68-58 on a Bryant trey with 5:04 left, but Cortland finished the game on a 12-1 run, starting with four points from Lydon.
Cortland will host Potsdam Saturday at 2 p.m., and the team's lone senior, Kelly, will be honored following the contest.
