Plattsburgh State 80 Cortland State 78
Late recap of Friday night's game that was my SUNYAC Game of the Week and one that lived up to its promise.
I had the Cardinals winning this one by an 86-83 final score so I wasn't that far off from the actual final and the MOV was only a point away.
The two teams had 4 ties and several lead changes through the first 6 minutes of action until, tied at 14, the Cardinals' Chris Middleton nailed a three pointer to begin a 15-5 run that put Plattsburgh in front 29-19 with 8:16 left in the half. Eli Bryant hit another triple a minute later to extend the lead to 6 points and after Cortland's James Morales narrowed the gap the Cards' Eric Mack sandwiched a Jon Patron layup with a pair of baskets to extend the lead to double digits at 27-17. Cortland would come back though and kept scoring inside. The Cardinals did a good job of defending the 3 point arc but that left them vulnerable to penetration as Cortland managed to score 10 of their next 14 points on layups and pull within a single possession at 37-34 after Justin Cooper made just the 2nd 3 pointer of the half for the Red Dragons with 2:52 remaining in the period. Plattsburgh came up empty on their next 2 possessions and with 1:29 left Cooper hit another threeball to tie the game at 37 and that's the way it remained as the teams headed to the locker rooms for the break.
The 2nd half was a repeat of the opening period only with more lead changes and ties. It was a barnburner that you just knew would come down to the final few possessions, and it didn't disappoint. The teams traded baskets and leads with Cortland gaining their largest lead on a pair of Justin Cooper free throws at 49-46 with 15:24 to play. Still down by 3 at 51-48, Plattsburgh strung together another 10-2 burst fueled by 5 points from Eli Bryant to go in front 58-53 with 12 minutes left. The Cardinals would maintain their advantage and increased it to a 7 point lead, the largest of the half at 64-57, when Ian Howard sank two free throws with 8:27 remaining. Then it was the Red Dragons' turn to go on a 11-2 run led by back to back buckets from Zach Lydon, a 3 pointer from Morales and 4 points from Cooper to regain the upper hand at 68-66 with 5:56 left to play. The teams were tied at 70 when Patron hit a big 3 pointer for the Cardinals and Cooper responded with another layup onside for Cortland. Plattsburgh came up empty and Morales was fouled on the other end, as he made both free throws to put the Red Dragons back in front 74-73, with 2:34 on the clock. Once more the Cards went to the well and Patron was there to score inside and put them back in front. Morales missed from downtown but Cooper collared the rebound and was fouled, making both free throws to put the home team back on top. But not for long as a picture perfect alley oop play from Eli Bryant to Eric Mack just 12 seconds later resulted in a throwdown by Mack and a Cardinal lead of 77-76 with 1:33 to play. The Cards called timeout and on Cortlands' next possession James Morales got a friendly bounce as his jumper went in and out, then straight up and dropped through for a 2 pointer to make it 78-77, with 1:14 to go. That set the stage for the dramatics of Eli Bryant, who for the umpteenth time, calmly dribbled the shot clock down about 4 feet behind the 3 point line and then with the clock winding down nailed the 3 pointer that put Plattsburgh on top 80-78. It was nothing but net. Cortland called a time out and elected to go inside to Zach Lydon for the game tying basket hoping for the hoop and harm. Instead Ian Howard got a clean block and Eric Mack got the loose ball. Cortland elected not to foul Bryant who dribbled the clock all the way down once again and just missed another three. The logic was he would probably make both free throws and make it a 2 possession game so they elected to take their chances on a shot with just a few seconds remaining after a hoped for Plattsburgh miss. They got the Plattsburgh miss but the last shot attempt ended up being a heave from over half court and did manage to hit the rim. I think I would have fouled early in the possession and taken my chances there. Bryant may have missed 1 of the 2 free throws and then the game could have been tied with a 3 pointer from Cortland. They are, after all, the best three point shooting team in the YAC. At the very least, pressure Bryant and hope for a late turnover but I wouldn't have let him just dribble the clock down uncontested.
Plattsburgh had 5 players record double figures in the game led by the reigning SUNYAC Player of the Week Jon Patron. He scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to post his 2nd double-double in 3 conference games.
Eli Bryant came off the bench to score 19 points, with 8 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. Since Eli assumed his role of coming off the bench he has scored 18 or more points in 7 of 9 games and is now averaging 19.0 ppg.
Nick DeAngelis had14 points and hit 4 of 7 from long distance. He added 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
Chris Middleton had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Eric Mack had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 assists.
Cortland's Justin Cooper led all scorers with 26 points. 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
James Morales had 25 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist. Zach Lydon added 11 points.
These two teams will have a rematch in Plattsburgh on Saturday February 3rd at 3:00 PM. It could very well be with hosting rights for the SUNYAC Tournament on the line....although I'm sure Brockport will have a thing or two to say about that.
