CORTLAND, N.Y. - Justin Cooper (Pine Plains/Stissing Mountain) scored 22 points and finished one assist shy of a triple-double as Cortland led start-to-finish in an 89-73 win over visiting New Paltz. The Red Dragons improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in SUNYAC play.

Cooper ended with 22 points, 11 rebounds and a career-best nine assists. He hit 6-of-9 shots from the floor and 9-of-10 free throws. Nicky Bonura (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) buried 5-of-6 shots from 3-point land (6-of-7 overall from the floor) to finish with 17 points.

James Morales (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) also tallied 17 points, including four 3-pointers, and dished out three assists. Ryan Schmadel (Oriskany) made a trio of 3-pointers in an 11-point effort off the bench. Cortland finished 15-of-35 (43 percent) from 3-point range and 30-of-60 (50 percent) overall.

Tristan Wissemann led New Paltz (2-5, 1-2 SUNYAC) with 17 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Brandon Guest totaled nine points and three assists, Kevin Coyle led the Hawks with nine rebounds, and Paddy Parr handed out four assists.

Cortland was assessed an administrative technical foul before the game started for an error in the starting lineup in the scorebook, but New Paltz missed the one free throw it was awarded. The Red Dragons then opened the game with a 9-0 run, including four points by Cooper, and pushed the lead to 15-2 four minutes into the contest on 3-pointers by Brendan Fitzpatrick (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage) and Morales.

The hosts led by as many as 17 points in the first half and 47-33 at intermission. Morales scored 14 of his 17 points in the opening period, including two treys in the final minute.

Cortland's lead grew to 19 points less than three minutes into the second half, and was still at 19 with 13:13 left when Carrel Joseph (Deer Park) hit 2-of-3 free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. New Paltz, however, quickly rattled off 10 straight points on 3-pointers from Nick Paquette and Cory Garcia and two buckets by Matthew English and the Hawks were down only 58-49 with 11:38 left.

A Schmadel 3-pointer and a Morales layup extended Cortland's lead to 14 with 10:23 remaining. New Paltz continued to hang around and eventually got within eight at 80-72 on a Guest 3-point play with 2:48 left. Cooper helped seal the victory with a jumper at the 2:20 mark and six free throws over the final 1:35.

Cortland will travel to Fredonia Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Buffalo State Saturday at 3 p.m. for SUNYAC contests.