GENESEO, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team snapped an eight-game skid on Saturday afternoon, topping SUNY Geneseo, 76-72, at Schrader Gymnasium in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest.
 
The victory breathed life back into the Cardinals' SUNYAC Tournament hopes, as they now sit two-and-a-half games back of the sixth and final playoff spot.
 
Plattsburgh State trailed by as many as eight points early in the second half before using a 13-0 run to take a 45-40 advantage. After a Geneseo basket, the Cardinals assembled a 9-0 spurt, and a 3-pointer by junior guard Eli Bryant (Staten Island, N.Y./Michael J. Petrides School) handed Plattsburgh State a 54-42 cushion with 10:10 left in regulation. The Knights countered with an 8-2 run, while the Cardinals answered right back with eight unanswered points to reclaim a 12-point edge with 4:38 remaining.
 
Geneseo whittled the deficit down to four by clawing back with an 18-10 run, as senior guard John Decker cut the gap to 74-70 with 23 seconds left to play. Forced to foul, the Knights sent Bryant to the line, and he proceeded to hit both free throws to push the margin back to six. Geneseo misfired on a 3-point attempt during its next trip down the floor, but sophomore guard C.J. Burke corralled the offensive board and converted on a layup to trim the deficit back to four. The Knights fouled Plattsburgh State immediately and caught a break after a pair of missed free throws with nine seconds left. Geneseo, which came down with the defensive rebound on the second missed free throw, pushed the ball down the floor, and senior guard Justin Ringen attempted a step-back 3-pointer as time expired, only to see the ball miss the mark.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 7-9 overall (3-7 SUNYAC) with the win and next hosts SUNY Potsdam on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 5:30 p.m. Geneseo falls to 11-6 overall (6-4 SUNYAC) with the loss and hosts Buffalo State next on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 5:30 p.m.
 
The Cardinals held a slight lead in the early goings of the contest before using a 13-2 spurt to take a 20-7 advantage following a Bryant jumper. The two teams traded points before the Knights netted eight unanswered, the last six of which came off back-to-back 3-pointers by Ringen and junior guard Kevin Crockett. Both sides battled down the stretch in the first half, but Geneseo scored the final four points of the stanza to take a 31-30 lead into the locker rooms.
 
The Knights opened the second half on a 9-2 run to take an eight-point lead, setting the stage for the large momentum swings that followed.
 
Both teams shot nearly the same percentage from the floor, with Plattsburgh State hitting 40.3 percent (27-of-67) of its shots and Geneseo fashioning a 40 percent (24-of-60) clip. The Cardinals went 17-of-22 (77.3 percent) from the line, while the Knights went 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe. Plattsburgh State finished with a 42-39 edge in rebounds, and the Cardinals scored 19 points off 17 Knight turnovers.
 
Bryant led the Cardinals with a career-high 29 points, which he achieved on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor, 4-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 shooting from the line. Sophomore forward Jonathan Patron (Huntington, N.Y./Harborfields) came off the bench to score 22 points and add seven rebounds in 29 minutes of action. Sophomore forward Ian Howard (Queens, N.Y./Springfield Gardens) paced Plattsburgh State's rebounding efforts with a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
Decker's 23 points led Geneseo, while Ringen scored 19 points coming off the bench. Sophomore forward Jack Manke corralled 11 rebounds and added to his impressive stat line with six points and three blocks.