NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Eric Edwards (Binghamton) scored 25 points and tied his career high with 10 rebounds, Ryan Schmadel (Oriskany) scored 20 points, and Brendan Fitzpatrick (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK) registered career bests of 19 points and 12 rebounds as Cortland outlasted host New Paltz, 78-71, in a SUNYAC men's basketball matchup.

 

Cortland upped its record to 16-7 overall and is 10-6 in conference play. The Red Dragons remain a game behind fourth-place Oswego (11-5), which won at Oneonta Tuesday, with two games remaining in the regular season. Cortland and Oswego will both host Brockport and Geneseo this weekend (Cortland plays Brockport Friday and Geneseo Saturday). The Red Dragons will either be the fourth seed in next week's SUNYAC playoffs and host a quarterfinal game or the fifth seed and be on the road for the quarterfinals.

 

Edwards finished 10-for-19 from the floor and made all four of his free throws for his sixth game this season with at least 20 points. Schmadel made 8-of-16 shots, three from 3-point range, and also recorded five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals in his first start of the season.

 

Fitzpatrick connected on 8-of-15 shots from the floor. All 12 of his rebounds were on the defensive glass, and he led the Red Dragons with five assists. Ben Walters (Lockport/Starpoint) added nine points on 3-of-5 shooting and gathered in a career-high six rebounds.

 

Tristan Wissemann and Scott Reisert each recorded a double-double for New Paltz (5-18, 1-15 SUNYAC). Wissemann finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds and Reisert had 12 points and 16 rebounds. RJ Meyers-Turner scored 17 points and handed out three assists and Jake Passaretti ended with four assists, five rebounds and six points.

 

Cortland extended a 32-29 lead with 5:51 left in the first half to 49-37 at halftime. Schmadel scored 18 points and Edwards netted 14 points in the opening 20 minutes. The lead grew to 13 points twice in the first four minutes of the second half and was still in double figures at 61-50 after a Schmadel layup at the 12:43 mark.

 

New Paltz rattled off seven straight points in the next two minutes and was down only four at 61-57 after a Meyers-Turner 3-pointer with 10:32 left. While the Hawks never got any closer, they were still down only four at 75-71 after Wissemann's jumper with 44 seconds remaining.

 

Walters made the first of two foul shots with 39 seconds on the clock to push Cortland's lead to five. Cortland drew an offensive foul with 34 seconds left, and a few seconds later Fitzpatrick hit the second of two free throws to extend the lead to 77-71. New Paltz missed 3-pointers on its next two possessions and Fitzpatrick put home the second of two free throws with seven seconds remaining to finish the scoring.

 

Cortland shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half but cooled off to just 30 percent in the second half to end at 46 percent overall (33 percent from the 3-point line). New Paltz shot 39 percent for the game but only 19 percent (6-of-32) from the arc.