Cortland Men Hold Off Persistent Potsdam, 75-60

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CORTLAND, N.Y. - Nicky Bonura (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) led four double-figure scorers with a career-high 24 points as Cortland remained tied for first in the SUNYAC standings with a 75-60 win over visiting Potsdam. Cortland improved to 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the conference.

Bonura matched his career best with six 3-pointers. He finished the afternoon 7-of-12 from the floor overall, and 6-of-11 from 3-point range, and he hit all four of his free throws.

Zach Lydon (Elizaville/Stissing Mountain) made 6-of-10 shots and ended with 15 points. Justin Cooper (Pine Plains/Stissing Mountain) ended with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and James Morales (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) chipped in with 13 points, three assists and two blocks. Carrel Joseph (Deer Park) shared the team lead with Cooper with 10 rebounds. All of Cooper's and Joseph's rebounds came on the defensive glass as Cortland won despite pulling down only one offensive rebound as a team.

Nosa Onabor led Potsdam (8-7, 3-5 SUNYAC) off the bench with 18 points and seven rebounds. He made 4-of-11 attempts from 3-point range. Dante Langley scored 10 points, Danny Delsol-Lowry added eight points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Jayquan rang up eight points and three assists.

Cortland led for the final 37 minutes of the game, but was never really able to put away the Bears until the end. The Red Dragons led 37-24 on a Bonura 3-pointer with 3:50 left in the first half, but Potsdam got back within six, and Cortland led by nine at halftime, 40-31.

Cortland jumped out quickly in the second half and took its largest lead of the game at 64-48 on a Bonura 3-pointer with 8:07 remaining. Potsdam, however, made another push with a 12-2 run over the next five minutes. Thomas made the first of two free throws with 2:35 left to cut Cortland's lead to 66-60, but Lydon's traditional 3-point play with 2:16 left began a 9-0 Red Dragon run to end the game.

Six different Cortland players made at least one 3-pointer as the Red Dragons finished 13-of-27 from the arc (48 percent). Cortland shot 45 percent from the field overall and 75 percent (12-of-16) from the foul line. Potsdam ended at 36 percent shooting overall and 31 percent (8-of-26) from three.

Cortland will host Oneonta on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in a SUNYAC contest. The game was originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m. but has been moved up to an earlier start time.