PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – On what began as a joyful tribute for senior day for the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team Saturday afternoon transitioned into disappointment on the Memorial Hall court as SUNYAC rival Oswego State took down the No. 22 ranked team in NCAA Division III by a 90-74 score.
The Lakers' Brian Sortino stole the show just as he had in last year's SUNYAC title game, as he amassed 38 points on 13-of-25 (52.0-percent) shooting. The junior did most of his damage from long range, connecting on eight of his 12 triple attempts, good for 66.7-percent.
As a team, Oswego State shot 50.8-percent (33-of-65) from the floor, including 18-of-32 (56.3-percent) from three-point distance.
Four Cardinals finished in double figures. Senior Kyle Richardson matched the number on his back with 24 points. The Baldwin, N.Y., native also grabbed a team-best eight rebounds and swatted away three blocked shots.
Oswego State was on fire from three-point range early as it hit four of its first five attempts, jumping out to a 16-9 lead.
Following a brief spurt by Plattsburgh State, which included baskets from sophomore Eli Bryant and freshman Jonathan Patron, the Lakers got back-to-back threes from Dustin Pond and Demetrius Mitchell to go back up by 12.
The Cardinals would keep pace with Oswego State's hot shooting, as senior Xavier Thomas provided a jolt as time wound down in the first half. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native for the second-straight game was on the receiving end of a nice lob from fellow senior Edward Correa, finishing the alley-oop. That would bring Plattsburgh State to within single digits.
Bryant sank a jumper with four seconds left in the first half to give the Cardinals some momentum heading into halftime, as they trailed 38-31.
After scoring a modest 10 points in the first, Sortino exploded in the second half by scoring 28 points.
Plattsburgh State, however, stayed with the Lakers early on, thanks to threes from Correa and Richardson. Just past the five minute mark, Patron drove to the rim and laid one in, tying the contest at 50.
Patron, though, would get ejected from the game with 11:45 left in the game after showing his displeasure of a foul call by tossing the basketball towards an official in disgust. Patron finished with 10 points in just 12 minutes played.
The Lakers took full advantage from that moment on, as they regained a double digit lead after consecutive threes from Alex Rawa and Keith Tyson, forcing a Cardinal timeout with 9:20 left.
Out of the stoppage, Richardson made his third of four triples on the afternoon to make it 69-61 in favor of the Lakers.
That would be as close as Plattsburgh State would get unfortunately, as Oswego State made three straight three-point attempts – two coming from Sortino – and sprinted to an 80-63 lead.
The Cardinals ultimately had no answer for Sortino's hot hand, and drop just their second game within the SUNYAC (13-2) this season. Oswego State improves to 17-6 overall and 10-6 in conference.
Plattsburgh State will have its next chance to lock up the No. 1 seed in the SUNYAC playoffs on Tuesday evening when it welcomes in North Country rival SUNY Potsdam for a 7:30 p.m. tip.