PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team continued the success of its relentless—and efficient—offense so far this season Sunday evening at Memorial Hall, as the Cardinals pinned a 92-73 setback on the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the Cardinal Classic finale.
 
While no team trophy was handed out and no champion officially was crowned, Plattsburgh State finished as the de facto Cardinal Classic champion by virtue of going 2-0 throughout the three-day event. RPI went 1-1, while Elms College went 0-2. Junior guard Eli Bryant (Staten Island, N.Y./Michael J. Petrides School) was named the Cardinal Classic Tournament MVP, while sophomore guard/forward Chris Middleton (New York, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) and sophomore forward Jonathan Patron (Huntington, N.Y./Harborfields) joined him on the All-Tournament Team. The remainder of the All-Tournament Team included sophomore guard Tom Horvat and senior forward Brian Hatcher from RPI and senior guard Symon Smith from Elms.
 
Plattsburgh State climbs to 3-0 overall with the win and next visits St. Lawrence University for an 8 p.m. non-conference contest on Tuesday, Nov. 29. RPI drops to 2-1 overall with the loss and hosts cross-town rival The Sage Colleges on Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m.
 
The Cardinals hopped out to a 16-10 lead in the early stages of the game. RPI continued to match Plattsburgh State possession for possession, and its high-water mark came midway through the period when freshman guard/forward Kevin Davis scored on a fast-break layup to hand the Engineers a 32-24 advantage.
 
Plattsburgh State regrouped and put together one of its key runs of the game, going on a 14-1 tear, as a made basket by sophomore forward Ian Howard (Queens, N.Y./Springfield Gardens) staked the Cardinals to a 38-33 lead. The two teams battled back and forth during the home stretch of the first half, and a layup by Middleton with 21 ticks left on the clock gave Plattsburgh State a 49-41 halftime lead.
 
Following the break, there was little RPI could do to stop the offensive efficiency of the Cardinal attack. Patron capped off an 11-4 Plattsburgh State spurt with a 3-pointer in the opening minutes of the second half, and while the Engineers cut the deficit to single digits, Plattsburgh State put the game out of reach with a 15-5 scoring spree. The Cardinals' largest lead of the game (20) occurred when Patron tapped the ball into the cylinder on a put-back attempt with 5:59 to go in regulation.
 
Plattsburgh State shot 56.9 percent (37-of-65) from the floor on the game and held a commanding 46-27 edge in rebounds. RPI, meanwhile, shot 41.9 percent (26-of-62) from the field and 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from 3-point distance.
 
Patron led Plattsburgh State with a double-double, scoring 21 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Bryant added 20 points and three assists, while Middleton added a career-high 14 points, which came on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. Junior guard Eric Mack (Roosevelt, N.Y./Baldwin) stuffed the stat sheet in 27 minutes of reserve duty, finishing with six rebounds, five points, three assists, three blocks and three steals.
 
For RPI, Hatcher led the way with a career-high 25 points, while senior guard Jonathan Luster and Horvat drained 12 points each. Davis scored 11 points coming off the bench.