PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team ran into a hot-shooting SUNY Plattsburgh squad on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Hall, as the 24th-ranked and conference-leading Cardinals topped the Hawks, 102-64, in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest.
 
New Paltz was unable to stop a Cardinal attack that shot 57.1 percent (36-of-63) from the floor and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from 3-point range. In addition, Plattsburgh went to the free-throw line 32 times and knocked down 22 of its shots from the charity stripe. The Cardinals finished with a 52-34 margin in rebounds and scored 31 points off 18 Hawk turnovers.
 
New Paltz drops to 4-15 overall (3-10 SUNYAC) with the loss and next hosts SUNY Oswego on Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m. Plattsburgh rises to 17-3 overall (12-1 SUNYAC) with the win and hosts SUNY Cortland next on Friday, Feb. 12, at 7:30 p.m.
 
Plattsburgh scored on its first possession of the game and never looked back, opening the contest with nine unanswered points. After swelling the advantage to 13 points, New Paltz countered with back-to-back 3-pointers by senior guard Keegan Donovan (Groton, N.Y./Groton) and junior forward Andrew Seniuk (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) to pull within seven.
 
While the Cardinals pushed the lead back to double digits, the Hawks stayed within striking distance until a 9-0 Plattsburgh spurt gave the home team a 26-point advantage with 8:54 remaining in the first half. The Cardinals continued to push the pace down the stretch in the first half and entered the locker rooms with a 56-32 lead.
 
New Paltz was unable to string together enough runs in the second half to chip away at the deficit, and Plattsburgh led by as many as 38 points late in the contest.
 
Freshman guard/forward Nick Paquette (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) keyed the Hawk attack with 13 points, while freshman guard Cory Garcia (Highland, N.Y./Highland) provided a big game off the bench, totaling career-highs in points (10), rebounds (5), steals (4) and assists (3). Sophomore forward Brandon Tolliver (Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds coming off the bench, while freshman guard Matt Misser(Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) came away with three steals.
 
Thirteen different Cardinals scored, led by senior guard Edward Correa's 24 points. Senior guard/forward Kyle Richardson drained 15 points, while freshman forward Jonathon Patron netted 13 points in reserve duty. Senior guard/forward Xavier Thomas provided a balanced stat line of six points, 12 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.