CORTLAND, N.Y. - The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team endured an 89-71 loss to Cortland on Saturday evening, falling to the Red Dragons in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) matchup. Trailing by just four points at the half, the Cards fell behind as Cortland separated with a strong three-point shooting throughout the game, despite Plattsburgh getting four players with double-figure scoring totals.

Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y./Thomas Jefferson) was the leading scorer for Plattsburgh State, putting up 14 points, as well as five boards and three assists. Sheriff Conteh (Bronx, N.Y./Our Saviour Lutheran) had 11 points, while Franklin Infante (East Rockaway, N.Y./East Rockaway) and Myles Jones (Alexandria, Va./Blue Ridge School) each had 10 points. Infante also added six boards, three assists, and three steals, while just turning the ball over once. Kareem Lubin was the game-high scorer with 31 points, hitting five three-pointers in the win. 

Three-point shooting was the difference in this one, with both teams getting hot from downtown in the game. The Cards kept themselves in the game early on with seven first-half threes, eventually hitting three more for a 31% mark. The Red Dragons also had seven threes in the first half but were 7-8 in the half, and finished 13-21 overall for a 61.9% shooting clip. Overall from the field, Plattsburgh shot 34.8% and the Red Dragons shot 55.7%, allowing Cortland to build their lead. Plattsburgh only had five giveaways all game and was able to keep the rebounding battle close, but the strong shooting from the Red Dragons was too much to overcome. 

The Cardinals fall to 7-12 with the loss and see their SUNYAC record fall to 3-9. They will head out west to Geneseo and Brockport next weekend, first facing Geneseo on Friday, Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Cortland improves to 14-6 and 9-4 in league play and has a date with Oneonta on Friday, Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

The first half saw excellent three-point shooting from both squads, with the Cards going 7-17 and the Red Dragons going 7-8 from deep. Cortland took the largest lead of the half at the 6:09 mark when Danny Linehan hit a three-pointer, but two free throws and a Jones three soon after pulled the game back within two points. An Infante free throw later knotted the game at 38 points and Jones tied it up at 40 with a layup at 1:11, but Cortland scored the half's last four points to go up 44-40 heading into the break. 

The second half was the Kareem Lubin show, as the Red Dragon scored 27 of his 31 points to help his team pull away. He scored eight of the team's first ten points of the half and scored 60% of the team's points after the break. The Cards were able to hang around for the first six minutes of the half, but Lubin's hot shooting, coupled with Plattsburgh's three-point shooting slowing down, helped Cortland build the big lead, eventually winning 89-71. 

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