MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

magicman · January 17, 2016, 06:05:30 AM

Plattsburgh State 75 Cortland State 68

The Cardinals held off the Red Dragons who fought back on 2 occasions when they were down by double digits, refusing to go quietly into the night.

Plattsburgh came out firing, early on and scored the first 7 points of the game on an opening 3 pointer by Kyle Richardson, a layup by Magic Grigg and another inside move by Richardson. The Plattsburgh star was then whistled for a foul and 12 seconds later was called for a 2nd foul, that I'm told was highly questionable. So to the bench he went and didn't return for the rest of the entire half. I'm sure getting four first half minutes from your top player wasn't in Coach Curle's game plan. So enter Jon Patron to take Richardson's place. It took Patron 27 seconds to put points on the board as he went inside for a layup, missed it, got his own rebound and put it back in for the score. Just over a minute later he buried a 3 pointer to give the Cardinals their first double digit lead at 12-2. The Cardinal faithful have learned that the team doesn't suffer when Patron has to replace Richardson. Often they are both on the floor at the same time and that can be painful for the opposition.

Meanwhile J P Reagan entered the game for the Red Dragons and he was the first Cortland player to score as the Red Dragon starters missed their first 10 shots. Reagan scored 5 minutes into the contest to get Cortland on the board. He then proceeded to score 9 of their next 14 points to keep Cortland in the game. The Cardinals' lead fluctuated between 7 and 13 points for the rest of the period.

Up by 10 at 26-16 the Cardinals got a 3 pointer from Eddie Correa to increase their lead to the largest of the half. It was the 209th three pointer of Ed's career as a Cardinal and the first of 3 he would have on the night. On Friday night against Oswego he also had 3 triples and his first one in that game broke the all time Plattsburgh State record that was previously held by Cardinal All American, Anthony Williams.

The Cardinals' lead was up to 13 again,after Correa drained another 3 pointer with 3:10 left in the half, to make it 37-24. Cortland scored 5 straight points to close the gap but the Cards got back to back layups from Patron to go into the break with an 11 point advantage at 41-30.

Cortland shot an abysmal 1x21 from 3 point land in the first half and as anyone who follows YAC basketball knows the Red Dragons are usually one of the top teams or the top team in the conference from downtown. I think this performance, will finally even out the performance, that I witnessed a few years ago, when they were around 20x21 from long range. At any rate, I knew that a different storyline would take place in the 2nd half.

And it didn't take long for that plot to emerge as 12 seconds into the period Carrel Joseph drained a 3 and after Plattsburgh turned it over, Blair Estarfaa buried another one . Quickly the lead was down to 5 points. The teams battled back and forth and another jumper by Estarfaa made it a single possession game at 47-44 with 15 minutes left. The 3 Cardinal seniors, Richardson, Correa and the X-man, Xavier Thomas all scored to begin a 16-5 burst that restored a double digit margin at 63-49.

Back came the Red Dragons with 9 straight points to make it 63-58 with 4:49 to play, and after a layup by Dre Hampton with 1:41 to go the score was 67-63 and the Cards were about to be tested at the foul line. Correa was fouled and made 1 of 2 but Cortland misfired on their end. Another foul and more Cardinal misses, but a big offensive rebound by Ian Howard proved to be a backbreaker. Cortland had to foul again and this time Correa made them both. That pattern would continue as the Cards made 7 of 8 in the final 40 seconds to close things out.

Ed Correa was the game's leading scorer with 16 points and 6 rebounds. The X-Man Thomas had 14 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and a block.

Jon Patron had 13 points and a game high 9 rebounds. Kyle Richardson with limited minutes from the foul problem had 9 points and 7 rebounds. Eli Bryant once again with a solid contibution off the bench with 8 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds. Zack Coleman with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
Ian Howard only got in for 9 minutes but scored 5 points and had 4 offensive rebounds. Magic Grigg also only 12 minutes but valuable ones as he scored 4 points and had a career high 5 rebounds, 3 on the offensive end.

Plattsburgh shot 47.3% from the field hitting 26 of 55. They were 7x22 from long range (31.8%) but only 16x30 from the line (53.3%) They had 14 turnovers to only 7 for Cortland and finished in a dead heat for rebounds as they each had a total of 45.

Cortland had 4 players finish in double figures with JP Reagan leading the way. He matched Correa with 16 points and had 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Dre Hampton had 12 points, a team high 7 rebounds, a steal and a block.

Blair Estarfaa had 11 points, and 6 rebounds, while Carrel Joseph had 11 points and 3 rebounds. TJ Hefele added 7 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assist off the bench. Grequan Carter had 6 points and a team high 4 assists.

Obviously the biggest factor that resulted in a Cardinal win was the 3 point shooting of Cortland or the lack of it. Going 5x39 (12.8%) from deep will generally put you are the losing side of the scoreboard. It was the worst performance of the season for Cortland from long range beating the 5x26 night they had against Ithaca on December 1st, which also resulted in a loss.Their overall field goal percentage was 26x75 (34.7%) which if you deduct the 3 point shots from that total you would find they were 21x36 (58.3%) from inside the arc.

Part of the Red Dragons problems shooting the 3 ball tonight, can directly be attributed to the defense of the Cardinals. Plattsburgh entered the weekend as the #2 ranked team in the nation defending the 3 ball. After Friday and Saturday's games they are now the national leaders in that category. Teams throwing up the long range bombs against Plattsburgh will only be successful 24.3% of the time.

Plattsburgh is now 11-2 overall and 6-0 in the YAC. They head over to Potsdam to take on their North Country rival on Tuesday the 19th at 7:30.

Cortland drops to 10-3 overall and 4-2 in the conference. They travel to Geneseo on Tuesday for a meeting with the Knights.

scooterman · January 17, 2016, 10:36:51 AM

I didn't watch the game; but I guess the "focus" was not there on the defensive end or the foul line. The Eagles are really putting the pressure on themselves to make the playoffs. 7 good teams and only 6 spots for playoffs. Am I correct? Still love my Eagles but got to become a more consistent team. We can't "roll the dice" every time you take the floor. Go Eagles!!!

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · January 17, 2016, 06:03:47 PM

My heart goes out to the Geneseo community. I am at a loss of words. Will say something on tonight's show, but in the meantime... please keep them in your thoughts: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/01/17/police-investigation-underway-geneseo/78930674/

Democrat and Chronicle's coverage: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/01/17/police-investigation-underway-geneseo/78930674/

And Geneseo with information: http://www.geneseo.edu/jan-17-tragedy

pg04 · January 17, 2016, 11:26:54 PM

Very sad news coming out of Geneseo Dave.

My thoughts are with the families, teammates, classmates, friends, the list goes on and on for the lives cut short.

Tragedy needs to stay away from the SUNYAC family!

Bengalsrule · January 17, 2016, 11:28:48 PM

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on January 17, 2016, 06:03:47 PM
My heart goes out to the Geneseo community. I am at a loss of words. Will say something on tonight's show, but in the meantime... please keep them in your thoughts: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/01/17/police-investigation-underway-geneseo/78930674/

Democrat and Chronicle's coverage: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/01/17/police-investigation-underway-geneseo/78930674/

And Geneseo with information: http://www.geneseo.edu/jan-17-tragedy

Will do. Plenty here at Buffalo State are stunned also. Just saw Kelsey play here yesterday!

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · January 17, 2016, 11:48:28 PM

I had a comment from Scott Hemer at the end of Hoopsville tonight (read comment)... not sure if it can be seen (we had tech problems), but it simply said they will get through this and as I also heard from Mike at New Paltz... there is nothing on how to deal with this in Coaching Guide 101.

FYI - Cortland games postponed if you didn't know.

magicman · January 18, 2016, 12:22:41 AM

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on January 17, 2016, 11:48:28 PM
I had a comment from Scott Hemer at the end of Hoopsville tonight (read comment)... not sure if it can be seen (we had tech problems), but it simply said they will get through this and as I also heard from Mike at New Paltz... there is nothing on how to deal with this in Coaching Guide 101.

FYI - Cortland games postponed if you didn't know.

Thanks for keeping us informed, Dave. I was tuned into Hoopsville but the broadcast conked out while you were interviewing Coach Schulman from Lehman College. I kept checking back but couldn't get it to reconnect. I know you were having some technical issues, as you mentioned during the broadcast, from your time spent down south. I did see where the Democrat & Cronicle link you provided had another small update a bit later, but really, nothing concrete. It said the police were going to have a news conference at 2:00 PM on Monday afternoon.

Sad times in the SUNYAC recently. Our prayers go out to the families of the young students that lost their lives on Sunday.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · January 18, 2016, 12:30:05 AM

To say I was having tech problems tonight would be an understatement. And the problems that caused the broadcast to conk out near the end were completely unrelated to the problems we were having in the afternoon and at the start of the show. The list of issues today/tonight is a long one that kept getting longer. I am hoping that somehow parts of the broadcast at the end survive the processing from YouTube overnight or they are gone... because on my end the broadcasting console crashed when we went to stop the recording - possibly a sign of what was going on that we had no control of.

To say the least, I'm ticked off and the amount of time added to my week to solve these problems compared to the already-existent list is frustrating.

Sorry... got sidetracked.

It has been a tough year in the SUNYAC. However, I can't imagine what is going on on the Geneseo campus and especially with the teams nearly directly involved. We will continue to follow the story and update when we can and when it is appropriate. We certainly aren't a media entity (we/me) that looks to glorify anything or make our name by having a TMZ-mentality.

magicman · January 18, 2016, 12:40:46 AM

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on January 18, 2016, 12:30:05 AM
It has been a tough year in the SUNYAC. However, I can't imagine what is going on on the Geneseo campus and especially with the teams nearly directly involved. We will continue to follow the story and update when we can and when it is appropriate. We certainly aren't a media entity (we/me) that looks to glorify anything or make our name by having a TMZ-mentality.

Anyone that has spent any amount of time on D3hoops or caught any Hoopsville shows knows that the TMZ style isn't your cup of tea. I caught your initial remarks about the Geneseo story and how you weren't going to speculate since nothing factual had been released. I noticed the Democrat & Cronicle managed to slide in a bit of speculation with their updated comments.

Sorry for all the technical problems....as if you don't have enough to do.

with age came? · January 18, 2016, 01:39:02 AM

Prayers and my deepest condolences go out to all.

magicman · January 18, 2016, 03:38:30 AM

The latest Massey Ratings as of January 18th:

The East Region's Top 25 Plus or Minus since last listing.

#20 Plattsburgh State +12
#27 Oneonta State same
#28 Lancaster Bible +4
#54 St. John Fisher +16
#71 NYU -26
#83 Geneseo State +31
#86 Hartwick +21
#96 Buffalo State -31
#104 Brockport State -9
#110 Rochester +28
#112 Cortland State -8
#118 Oswego State -15
#152 Nazareth -9
#162 Skidmore -23
#171 Ithaca -3
#182 Hobart +45
#184 RIT -31
#197 St. Lawrence -1
#224 Union +33
#232 Alfred +18
#239 Stevens Tech -3
#246 Vassar +1
#249 Clarkson -4
#255 RPI -83
#264 Fredonia State +99

Massey Ratings as of January 14th:

#27 Oneonta State
#32 Plattsburgh State
#65 Buffalo State
#95 Brockport State
#103 Oswego State
#104 Cortland State
#114 Geneseo State

Other East Region Teams of note:

#31 Lancaster Bible
#45 NYU
#70 St. John Fisher
#107 Hartwick
#138 Rochester
#139 Skidmore
#143 Nazareth
#153 RIT
#168 Ithaca
#172 RPI
#196 St. Lawrence
#227 Hobart
#236 Stevens Tech
#245 Clarkson
#247 Vassar
#250 Alfred
#257 Union
#363 Fredonia State

magicman · January 18, 2016, 04:09:28 AM

Here's a story that was on the Geneseo Men's Hockey website back in December when the Ice Knights had just upset #1 ranked Plattsburgh State. The player in the article, Matt Hutchison, is the young man who lost his life yesterday in the tragedy at Geneseo. It's not basketball but it's worth the read.

http://geneseoknights.com/sports/mice/2015-16/releases/20160117tako2p

Matt was from Vancouver, British Columbia and a college student playing hockey, but that didn't stop him from volunteering for the Geneseo Fire Department. It was a way that he could learn about firefighting which was his ultimate life's goal.

So sad that a young man's life is gone so quickly, without ever achieving his dreams. A special prayer will go out this day for Matt and the other 2 students that lost their lives.

All-Time · January 18, 2016, 01:52:31 PM

My heart goes out to the families of those you tragically lost there children yesterday at Geneseo.
There are no words to describe what these families must be going through.
My thoughts and prayers are with them.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · January 18, 2016, 02:52:46 PM

Police had their presser and apparently have confirmed what I had been hearing: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/3-found-dead-suny-geneseo-suspected-murder-suicide-article-1.2500218

magicman · January 18, 2016, 04:16:33 PM

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on January 18, 2016, 02:52:46 PM
Police had their presser and apparently have confirmed what I had been hearing: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/3-found-dead-suny-geneseo-suspected-murder-suicide-article-1.2500218

I surmised this to be the case last night, after hearing a press briefing at the police dept. yesterday afternoon. There were just enough questions asked by the media, that weren't answered at that time, but still gave you the idea of the ramifications of the tragic incident.

It's even sadder when you realize that at some point this may have been prevented with counseling for the disturbed ex boyfriend.