BROCKPORT, N.Y. – He might not have had his best shooting game of the season, but senior Xavier Thomas found himself in exactly the right place at the right time when it mattered most for the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team Friday night inside Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium at The College at Brockport.

With the game even at 72, the shot clock turned off, and the Cardinals holding possession, Thomas snagged a rebound that was deflected his way off of an Edward Correa three-point attempt and laid in a short jumper with two seconds left to give Plattsburgh State the lead, ultimately sealing the Golden Eagles' fate.

Thomas shot just 5-of-14 (35.7-percent) from the floor and committed six turnovers on the evening, but was positioned well underneath the basket on the play of the game and alertly grabbed a loose rebound, immediately putting the ball back up towards the hoop.

Plattsburgh State held a lead for much of the game, including the entire second half until Brockport's Clifton Lyerly sank a triple from the top of the key with 12 seconds remaining, tying the game and setting up the game-winning Cardinal possession.

Thomas' senior teammate Kyle Richardson turned in a dominant performance, posting 21 points and 11 rebounds for his team-leading 12^th double-double of the season. The Baldwin, N.Y., product was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line, two of which Richardson made with less than a second left, taking away any realistic opportunity for the Golden Eagles to tie as they trailed by four points.

Freshman Jonathan Patron entered the contest off the bench and poured in eight points in his first six minutes of action, leading the Cardinals back from an early deficit and giving them an 18-17 lead as the first half was nearing the midway point.

Plattsburgh State rattled off the next seven points to go up 25-17. Highlighted during that spurt were a Chris Middleton dunk and Richardson long range hit.

Brockport kept close with the Cardinals despite going just 1-for-12 from beyond the arc in the first half. Sophomore Eli Bryant would give Plattsburgh State its first double digit lead of the night after swishing a three with 3:38 showing on the clock.

The Golden Eagles looked as though they would head into halftime down by single digits, but Kyle Richardson collected an offensive rebound and scored on his put back attempt just before time expired in the first. Plattsburgh State would lead 46-36 at the break.

The shooting-percentages flip flopped in the second half, as Brockport shot 46.9-precent (15-for-32) while the Cardinals made just 10-of-32 (31.3-percent) of their shots. Coming into the contest shooting just 66.7-percent from the charity stripe, Plattsburgh State excelled at the line on Friday night, going 22-of-28 (78.6-percent).

Richardson gave the Cardinals their largest lead of the game with 2:26 into the second, as his layup provided a 13 point advantage for the visitors.

Lyerly though made sure his team stayed in the contest, scoring 12 points in the half while going 5-of-9 from the field.

The newest member of the Plattsburgh State 1,000-point club Edward Correa made just two triples on the evening, but one of those increased the Cardinals' advantage to 68-60 with 4:06 left.

Olusola Adeniran would answer right back, however, and from that point on, Plattsburgh State had trouble securing the ball. The Cardinals turned the ball over four times in five possessions with less than four minutes remaining.

Leading by six points with 2:40 on the clock, Plattsburgh State saw Brockport rattle off the next five points over the next minute and a half to make it a 70-69 Cardinal lead.

Richardson, coupled with Thomas' heroics would provide the rest of the scoring for Plattsburgh State from the free throw line.

For head coach Tom Curle, it's his sixth time while at the helm of the program that his team has reached the 20-win plateau.

Having already locked up the top seed in the SUNYAC tournament, the No. 23 ranked Cardinals will head to Geneseo to play their final tune-up of the regular season on Saturday. They will contend with a Knights squad that with a win, would clinch the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and straight entry into the semifinals next Friday at Memorial Hall. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.