PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - Coming within one point with less than five minutes to go, the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team fell to the Cortland Red Dragons down the stretch, with Cortland pulling away for an 81-71 win for a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win. The Cards outscored the Red Dragons 42-40 in the second half, as the team shot 50% from the field and 45% from three in the second half to pull themselves right alongside Cortland for much of the second period. 

Franklin Infante (East Rockaway, N.Y./ East Rockaway) led the scoring charge for Plattsburgh, as the sophomore guard put up 16 points on 7-11 shooting, also adding six boards and two assists. He had zero turnovers for the second time this season, with a near three to one assist to turnover ratio on the season. Erik Salo (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) added 14 points and eight boards for Plattsburgh while Sheriff Conteh (Bronx, N.Y./Our Saviour Lutheran) and Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y./Thomas Jefferson) each had 13 points. The duo of Austin Grunder and Karem Lubin from Cortland combined for 59 points, as Grunder posted a 36-point, 10 rebounds, three block performance, and Lubin added 23 points, seven boards, and three assists. 

Play was very even between the two teams, with the only real advantage coming in how well each team shot the ball. While Plattsburgh shot the ball outstanding in the second half, the first half proved to be a bit of a struggle, mainly from three points land as the team only hit two of 18 attempts from deep for an 11% clip. Overall the Cards were 40.6% from the floor and 24.1% from deep. The Red Dragons shot the ball at 43.9% from the floor and 33.3% from the floor while being perfect from the line in 13 attempts. 

The Cardinals fall to 3-7 on the season, with an 0-4 mark in the SUNYAC as they take on No. 25 Oswego St. tomorrow at 3 p.m., moved back an hour from the original start time. Cortland rises to 6-1 overall and is undefeated in league play at 4-0 this year. They will travel to Potsdam tomorrow, Dec. 11 for another SUNYAC contest before a near-month pause of conference play for the league. 

In the first half, the game looked to be getting well out of hand past the halfway mark, as the Red Dragons opened up a 16-point lead with 8:41 to go after a Grunder three-pointer. Grunder would put the team up by 19 later in the period, finishing a three-point play to make the score 34-15 with 5:46 to go. Despite the big lead and lack of momentum, Plattsburgh was able to chip away, pulling themselves to a manageable 12-point deficit heading into the break, after an Infante layup with 11 seconds left in the first made it 41-29.

After the break, the three-point shot started to fall for the Cards, as a Salo layup and threes from Tabb and Myles Jones (Alexandria, Va./Blue Ridge School) pulled Plattsburgh within six points not even two minutes into the half. A Grunder three-pointer was then matched by an Infante three, with layups by Jones and Conteh making the game just a single-possession contest with not even four minutes of second-half game action having yet occurred. The game remained tight for the next 12 minutes, with the Cards pulling within a single point three separate times, making the Red Dragons battle for this SUNYAC win. With 4:50 remaining, Tabb made a jump shot to once again pull Plattsburgh within one point, making the score 66-65. Cortland, however, began to pull away with jump shots falling for the Red Dragons allowing them to build a nice cushion, forcing the Cards to foul down the stretch. Lubin was fouled on each occasion and made eight straight free throws as his team pulled away and picked up their fourth conference win of the year.