BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team outlasted the Buffalo State Bengals on Friday night in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play, winning by a score of 71-69. The team earned their first conference victory of the season with the win, using strong free throw shooting in the second half to receive the win.
 
Senior guard/forward Sheriff Conteh (Bronx, N.Y./Our Saviour Lutheran) posted a career-high 21 points off the bench in the win, doing most of his damage early in the second half as he also had four rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Sophomore guards Franklin Infante (East Rockaway, N.Y./East Rockaway) and Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y./Thomas Jefferson) each had 11 points, with Infante registering seven rebounds and three assists. Matt Parkinson matched Conteh's game-high scoring output with 21 points, also grabbing seven boards and dishing out four assists. 
 
Plattsburgh used some strong three-point shooting to get the offense going in the first half, going 6-14 from deep, and very good free throw shooting in the second half (16-22, 72%) to earn the win over the Bengals. Overall, the Cards were just under 40% from the field, shooting 39.7%, and were also 33.3% from deep and 75% from the line. Buffalo State ended up shooting the ball better from the field, with a 43% clip overall and 40% from deep but weren't as strong from the line with a 67.9% mark. 
 
The Cardinals improve to 5-9 with the win and earn the first SUNYAC win of the season for themselves, moving to 1-6 in league play. They will continue their western New York trip with a matchup with the Fredonia Blue Devils tomorrow, Jan. 14, at 4 p.m. Buffalo State falls to 1-13 overall and 0-8 in conference play as they will match up with Potsdam tomorrow, Jan. 14, at 4 p.m. at home.
 
The game began quickly for the Bengals as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead with two scores in their first three possessions. Plattsburgh responded with their first bucket just under the 17-minute mark, as Conteh knocked down his first of three three-pointers to open up the Cardinal scoring. The remainder of the half was extremely close, with only the Bengals building a multiple-possession lead, as they briefly led by four points with just under 10 minutes to go before Sasha Vidrini (Trieste, Italy/Liceo Rogazionisti) drilled a three to make it a one-point game. With a 32-32 tie on the final possession of the half, Tabb was able to draw a foul with one second left, hitting both free throws to give his team a two-point lead heading into the break.
 
In the second half, the Cardinal's offense came out of the locker room on fire, opening up a 17-point lead with a 22-7 run over the first nine minutes to lead 56-39. The run was powered by seven points from Conteh and seven free throw makes from the team, as the run was capped by two makes from Infante at the line. However, the game was flipped on its head as the Bengals went on a 12-0 run to pull within five points over the next five minutes, holding the Cardinals without a field goal for a period of nearly ten minutes during the half. Luckily for Plattsburgh, the charity stripe was kind to them as they were able to hit free throws to hold the lead over Buffalo State over their field goal drought. Conteh finally hit the first field goal for Plattsburgh in nearly ten minutes at the 5:27 mark to put his team back up two possessions, as they led the Bengals 59-55. Plattsburgh continued to cling to their lead, even as turnovers gave Buffalo State possessions down the stretch. The Bengals ended up with the ball with 15 seconds left down just three points, attacking the rim and nearly drawing a foul plus a make at the four-second mark, but the shot fell off the rim for two shots at the line instead. After two makes, Plattsburgh was able to get the ball in with two seconds left and knock down one of two free throws as a last-second heave then fell short for Buffalo State, giving the Cards the win.