CORTLAND, N.Y. – The fifth-seeded Plattsburgh State men's basketball team concluded their 2023-24 season on Tuesday in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament First Round matchup against the fourth-seeded Cortland Red Dragons in a back-and-forth affair that saw 15 lead changes and needed overtime to decide a winner. After a late shot by Dylan Trombley (Moriah, N.Y. / Moriah) in overtime that put the Cardinals ahead by two, Kendall Arcuri hits a heartbreaking three at the buzzer that gave Cortland the 78-77 overtime win.
 
With the loss, the careers of four Plattsburgh State seniors are over: Darren Wright (Washington, D.C. / Bard), Willard Anderson Jr. (Buffalo, N.Y. / East), Trombley, and Tim Thomas (Manhattan, N.Y. / Commonwealth Academy (Mass.)). 
 
Trombley led the Cardinals in points with 18 points to go with four rebounds. Ikechukwu Ezike (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Paul Robeson) was the next top scorer with 17 points to go with eight rebounds. Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y / Thomas Jefferson) battled on the glass and came down with 10 rebounds and poured in 14 points to collect his second double-double of the season. Anderson Jr. was the last Cardinal that notched double figures with 14 points to go with five rebounds. 
 
For the Red Dragons, Arcuri led the team in points with 28. Aaron Coston and Jaylen Warmack also contributed to the overall effort with 15 and 11 respectively.  
 
Both teams shot nearly identically from the field with Plattsburgh shooting 41.4% and Cortland shooting 42.6%. However, the Red Dragons made more threes than the Cardinals, making 13 of 34 at 38.2% and the Cardinals 5 of 19 at 26.3%. At the stripe, the Cardinals made 14 of 20 at 70.0% while the Red Dragons made 13 of 16 at 81.3%. The Cardinals won the turnover battle 9-14 but got 15 points off turnovers and the Red Dragons were right behind them with 13. The Cardinals had a slight edge in rebounding 41-39 and got eight second-chance points compared to the Red Dragons' seven. 
 
Plattsburgh State falls to 14-12 (11-7 SUNYAC) to finish the 2023-24 season. Cortland rises to 15-11 (11-7 SUNYAC) and will next have a matchup on the road against top-seeded Oswego State on Friday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 pm. 

The first half saw the game sway both ways as both teams held leads and responded to the offensive output of each other. The Cardinals opened the game with five straight points before Arcuri made a three that got the Red Dragons on the board. A three from Coston tied the game at 8 with a little over 15 minutes to go. It was Arcuri with another three as Cortland took their first lead of the game 11-8. A Jeremiah Smith (Brooklyn, N.Y. / East New York Family Academy) layup made the score 15-14 and gave the Cardinals the lead once again with less than nine minutes to go before Kareem Lubin responded with a layup of his own. A Tabb layup tied the game at 21 with less than five minutes to play. The Cardinals held the lead for the rest of the half until the final minute when Gaige Armbrewster made a three that made the score 33-32 Red Dragons at halftime. 
 
The second half stayed competitive as neither team went away and both teams went basket for basket. Anderson Jr. opened the half with a three that gave the Cardinals the lead, followed by an Ezike jumper that made the score 37-33 Cardinals. At the 14:33 mark, a free throw from Arcuri tied the score at 42. The Cardinals responded with four straight points before Warmack ended that with a jumper. The Cardinals responded to buckets from the Red Dragons as they held the lead until the 6:33 mark when Isaiah Austin hit a three that made the score 57-54. A jumper from Tabb put the Cardinals ahead and then a pair of free throws from Coston put the Red Dragons back ahead with less than five minutes to play. With less than two minutes remaining, a clutch Ezike layup put the Cardinals ahead 66-64. Arcuri kept the Red Dragons in the game and did so again as he netted a game-tying layup that made the score 66 all and sent the game into overtime. 
 
40 minutes of action wasn't enough to determine a winner as Arcuri sent the game to overtime with a layup. The Red Dragons carried their momentum into overtime as they scored the first five points of the period and made the score 70-66 Red Dragons. The Cardinals responded with six straight points and took the lead 72-71 with over three minutes left in the game. Arcuri responded with a layup that put the Red Dragons back on top by one and Coston cushioned the lead to three on a pair of free throws with less than two minutes to go. The Cardinals did not go down as Tabb hit a three that tied the game at 75 and Trombley followed that up with a jumper that made the score 77-75 Cardinals. With less than 30 seconds left the ball was in Arcuri's hands as he got the friendly bounce on a three at the buzzer and gave the Red Dragons the win 78-77.