Box Score CORTLAND, N.Y. – A poor shooting performance was the cause of the Plattsburgh State men’s basketball team's first SUNYAC setback of 2012-13 as the Cardinals fell 68-55 to SUNY Cortland on Saturday (Dec. 1), at Corey Gymnasium.

Plattsburgh State drops to 4-2 and 1-1 in league play while the Red Dragons remain undefeated with a 5-0 overall mark and a 2-0 record in conference tilts.

Cortland wasted little time getting going as Jeremy Smith canned a three-pointer just 11 seconds into the game, forcing the Cardinals to play catch-up.

Early on, it appeared Plattsburgh State was more than up to that task as Gary Tibbs connected on a jumper before Shamoy McIntosh rattled home a three-ball to give the Cardinals their first lead of the day at 5-4.

Thanks to John Perez, that lead was extended to as many as three points as the junior banked in a layup on the next Plattsburgh State possession. The Red Dragons, though, had the answer to every Plattsburgh State basket and despite Perez scoring seven of the first 14 points of the afternoon for the Cardinals, Cortland began to pull away.

After Perez gave the Cardinals their final lead of the game with a layup at the 11:34 mark, the Red Dragons went on a 4-0 run to take the lead for good, courtesy of a layup by Kevin McMahon and a two-point jumper by Smith. Chris Manning converted on a layup on the ensuing Plattsburgh State possession to bring the Cardinals to within a point, but that was as close as the visitors would come to regaining the lead for the remainder of the tilt.

Cortland was extremely efficient from the field, connecting on 14 of their 31 shots in the first half to build a 36-26 lead going into the break. The Cardinals, meanwhile, couldn’t seem to get any shots to fall through after their initial scoring flurry, posting a shooting mark of just 27.8 percent in the first 20 minutes of action.

Building on their strong first half finish, the Red Dragons built their lead up to as many as 14 points in the opening minutes of the deciding frame before McIntosh single-handedly brought the Cardinals back into the game.

The sophomore caught fire from every location on the floor, netting the next nine points of the game to bring Plattsburgh State to within three after his three-point play with 16:03 remaining in the game. Those points, though, would be the last ones put on the board by the Cardinals for almost seven minutes.

Cortland buckled down defensively, making life miserable for the Cardinals from an offensive viewpoint. Plattsburgh State became mired in an 0-for-7 stretch from the field and couldn’t even pick up a point in their four trips to the free throw stripe in that span. Meanwhile, Cortland methodically built its lead back up to ten before Mike Mitchell drained a three-pointer with 9:22 remaining in the game to end the drought.

The damage, though, had been done and Cortland all but finished things off with a backbreaking 8-0 run highlighted with a pair of long-range makes by Brian Manning to take a 15-point lead with 7:22 remaining. Cortland never led its lead dip below 11 points to remain undefeated in SUNYAC play.

McIntosh poured in a game-high 17 points while Tibbs chipped in 10 on five-of-six shooting. As a team, Plattsburgh State shot just 21-of-64 (32.8 percent) from the field while the Red Dragons connected on 24 of their 55 shots (43.6 percent). Making matters worse, the Cardinals were just five-of-25 from beyond the arc and eight-of-16 at the charity stripe. Manning grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go along with six points and five assists. The Cardinals lost the battle of the boards, 42-38, but committed one less turnover (14) than the Red Dragons (15).

McMahon led the way for Cortland with a 15-point 11-rebound double-double. Harrison Hefele also scored 15 while Smith was good for 13.

Plattsburgh State returns to Memorial Hall for the final time in 2012 for a pair of SUNYAC games next weekend. First up is a showdown with Fredonia State on Friday which is slated to tip off at 8 p.m.