Sophomore Brian Kirchhoff led Cortland (9-4, 2-3 SUNYAC) with a career-high 22 points. He made 6-of-10 shots, including 5-of-8 from three-point range. Four of his treys came during a 14-point first half. Sophomore Jon Rother connected on 7-of-10 shots, two from three-point range, and finished with 17 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Frank Ranieri added 13 points and junior Justin O'Garrow handed out five assists.
Junior Johnnie Carter paced Plattsburgh (6-7, 2-4 SUNYAC) with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Brad Manor scored eight points off the bench and Curtis Smith finished with seven points, 13 below his average, and six assists.
Cortland led 38-16 with five minutes, 27 seconds left in the first half. Plattsburgh closed to within 43-29 at halftime and was within 12 early in the second half. The Red Dragons responded with a 14-3 run in less than six minutes to increase their lead to 59-36. The lead grew to as high as 29 points and was still at 27 before the Cardinals finished the game with a 13-3 run over the final 2:02.
Cortland shot 51 percent in the first half and 48 percent for the game. The Red Dragons made 8-of-21 three-pointers (38 percent). Plattsburgh shot 42 percent from the floor, but only 22 percent (6-of-27) from behind the three-point arc.
SUNY Plattsburgh vs SUNY Cortland 1/23/04 8 p.m. at Cortland, NY (Corey Gymnasium) SUNY CORTLAND 81, SUNY PLATTSBURGH 64 SUNY PLATTSBURGH (6-7, 2-4 SUNYAC) CARTER, Johnnie 7-9 3-4 17; MANOR, Brad 3-4 0-1 8; SMITH, Curtis 3-10 0-2 7; ARTERBERRY, Cameron 2-6 2-4 6; FRASER, Calvin 2-7 1-2 6; CORLESS, Jimmy 2-8 0-0 5; BILOW, Nate 2-5 0-0 5; ANDERTON, Ernest 2-2 0-0 4; MCCANN, Jim 1-2 2-2 4; HATCH, Brian 1-1 0-0 2; CARPENTER, Tom 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 8-15 64. SUNY CORTLAND (9-4, 2-3 SUNYAC) KIRCHHOFF, Brian 6-10 5-6 22; ROTHER, Jon 7-10 1-1 17; RANIERI, Frank 6-11 1-3 13; O'GARROW, Justin 1-5 3-5 5; JUTTON, Dave 2-4 0-0 5; HEADLEY, Rodney 1-5 3-6 5; WOODS, Brandon 2-3 0-0 4; ORTQUIST, Erik 2-4 0-1 4; SKRELJA, Simon 1-1 0-0 2; PERKINS, Chad 1-3 0-0 2; DEMPSEY, R.J. 0-3 0-0 0; COLEMAN, Derrick 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 15-24 81. SUNY Plattsburgh.............. 29 35 - 64 SUNY Cortland................. 43 38 - 81 3-point goals-SUNY Plattsburgh 6-27 (MANOR, Brad 2-2; SMITH, Curtis 1-5; BILOW, Nate 1-2; CORLESS, Jimmy 1-7; FRASER, Calvin 1-5; CARPENTER, Tom 0-4; ARTERBERRY, Cameron 0-2), SUNY Cortland 8-21 (KIRCHHOFF, Brian 5-8; ROTHER, Jon 2-4; JUTTON, Dave 1-2; ORTQUIST, Erik 0-1; COLEMAN, Derrick 0-1; O'GARROW, Justin 0-2; RANIERI, Frank 0-3). Fouled out--SUNY Plattsburgh-None, SUNY Cortland-None. Rebounds-SUNY Plattsburgh 33 (CARTER, Johnnie 10), SUNY Cortland 36 (PERKINS, Chad 5; ROTHER, Jon 5). Assists-SUNY Plattsburgh 17 (SMITH, Curtis 6), SUNY Cortland 18 (O'GARROW, Justin 5). Total fouls-SUNY Plattsburgh 17, SUNY Cortland 16. A-400