Senior Scott Taggart (Sidney Center/Franklin) added 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Red Dragons. Sophomore Mark Schaller (Rochester/Greece Athena) and junior Rod Headley (Peekskill) scored eight points apiece and senior Simon Skrelja (Hastings-on-Hudson/Hastings) finished with seven points, seven rebounds, six assists and two blocks.
Junior John Hauser (East Williston/Chaminade) led four New Paltz double-figure scorers with 18 points. He also led the Hawks with 10 rebounds. Junior Matt Irwin (Brooklyn/St. Edmund Prep) scored 13 points and handed out six assists, sophomore Jimmy Sugrue (Hastings-on-Hudson/Hastings) tallied 12 points and freshman Steven Lewis (Brooklyn/Millbrook) added 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting. New Paltz shot 50 percent from the floor, including 56 percent (10-of-18) from three-point range. Sugrue made all four of his trey attempts and Hauser was 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
Skrelja’s three-point play with 10:08 left in the game gave Cortland a 58-50 lead, but New Paltz clawed back to within 61-60 with eight minutes left on two Irwin free throws. Cortland led 64-62 with 6:22 remaining before Jutton heated up from long distance. He hit three-pointers at the 6:10, 5:42 and 4:25 marks to give the Red Dragons a 73-62 lead. Cortland led by at least nine the remainder of the game.
Cortland jumped out to a 15-5 lead to start the game, but the Hawks came back and tied the game at 19-19 with 10:14 left. Ranieri scored 16 points in the opening half and Cortland led 42-37 at the break. New Paltz came out early in the second half and took its first lead at 46-44 with 16:48 on the clock. Cortland eventually took the lead for good, though, on a Ranieri layup with 13:24 left.
SUNY New Paltz vs SUNY Cortland 2/4/06 8 p.m. at Cortland, NY (Corey Gym) SUNY CORTLAND 80, SUNY NEW PALTZ 68 SUNY NEW PALTZ (5-15, 2-10 SUNYAC) HAUSER, John 7-14 1-4 18; IRWIN, Matt 4-12 4-4 13; SUGRUE, Jimmy 4-5 0-0 12; LEWIS, Steven 5-5 0-3 10; CRICHLOW, Keith 4-9 1-1 9; ROBINSON, Luke 2-5 0-0 6; CARTER, John 0-1 0-0 0; KAIBLE, Bobby 0-1 0-0 0; HAUSER, Matt 0-0 0-0 0; GITTENS, Terrence 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-52 6-12 68. SUNY CORTLAND (19-2, 11-1 SUNYAC) RANIERI, Frank 9-16 7-8 25; JUTTON, Dave 4-8 5-5 17; TAGGART, Scott 5-8 0-0 10; SCHALLER, Mark 3-7 0-0 8; HEADLEY, Rod 3-6 2-4 8; SKRELJA, Simon 2-5 3-6 7; MAGGIACOMO, Dave 1-9 0-0 3; MIOLAN, Juan 1-2 0-0 2; NIEHOFF, Carson 0-0 0-0 0; NALLS, Elbert 0-0 0-0 0; MERRITT, Quentin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-62 17-23 80. SUNY New Paltz................ 37 31 - 68 SUNY Cortland................. 42 38 - 80 3-point goals-SUNY New Paltz 10-18 (SUGRUE, Jimmy 4-4; HAUSER, John 3-4; ROBINSON, Luke 2-5; IRWIN, Matt 1-3; CARTER, John 0-1; KAIBLE, Bobby 0-1), SUNY Cortland 7-22 (JUTTON, Dave 4-7; SCHALLER, Mark 2-4; MAGGIACOMO, Dave 1-8; MIOLAN, Juan 0-1; MERRITT, Quentin 0-1; RANIERI, Frank 0-1). Fouled out--SUNY New Paltz-None, SUNY Cortland-None. Rebounds-SUNY New Paltz 26 (HAUSER, John 10), SUNY Cortland 41 (TAGGART, Scott 14). Assists-SUNY New Paltz 14 (IRWIN, Matt 6), SUNY Cortland 13 (SKRELJA, Simon 6). Total fouls-SUNY New Paltz 14, SUNY Cortland 12. A-850