Western Connecticut State men's basketball coach Bob Campbell recorded his 500th career victory with an 86-80 win over Plattsburgh State Friday evening in an opening-round game of the Manhattanville tournament.

On the court, junior Gary Robinson led four Colonials scoring in double figures with 17 points.  Senior Will Jarrett and junior DaQuan Brooks added 16, and freshman Ronnie Underwood scored 12 points.  Robinson also led WestConn on the boards with nine rebounds, while Brooks led the team in assists with six.

After falling behind 3-0 in the opening minutes of the game, WestConn regrouped and took an 18-11 lead after a layup by senior John Phillips (Hartford, CT).  The Colonials still held a slight advantage at 25-22 with five minutes remaining in the first half, but an 11-4 run by Plattsburgh State to close out the half put WestConn in a 33-29 hole going into the locker room at intermission.

Plattsburgh State extended the lead to 41-34 two minutes into the second half, but an 8-0 run by WestConn put the Colonials back in front 42-41.  WestConn began to pull away and with four minutes remaining took a 12-point 79-67 lead after a Jarrett 3-pointer.  Plattsburgh State fought back to narrow the margin to five with under two minutes remaining, but free throws by Phillips and Brooks and a layup by Robinson down the stretch helped WestConn hold on for an 86-80 final margin of victory.

For the game, WestConn held a very slight 31-30 advantage in rebounds, a 19-12 edge in assists, and hit 52.6% from beyond the 3-point line compared to 13.3% for Plattsburgh State.

With the win, WestConn improves to 3-0 on the season, while Bob Campbell’s career record now stands at 500-212.