PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team defeated the visiting Knights of Geneseo on Saturday evening by a score of 84-73, taking home a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win in the process. The Cards shot the ball well from the field (52.5%) and poured in 11 three-pointers, shooting at a 40.7% clip from deep. 

Sophomore point guard Franklin Infante (East Rockaway, N.Y./East Rockaway) was the conductor of the Cardinal offense today, as he put together one of his best games of the season, pouring in a team-high 19 points while also coming up with eight assists and six boards. Senior forward Erik Salo (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) had a 17-point performance for Plattsburgh, also pulling down eight rebounds on 7-9 shooting. Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y./Thomas Jefferson) also contributed 16 points, with some big buckets down the stretch, and Willard Anderson Jr. (Buffalo, N.Y./East) had 10 points. Cole Kattan finished with a game-high 27 points for Geneseo, also picking up seven rebounds on 11-20 shooting. 

Plattsburgh shot the ball well from the floor and the line, making nine of ten free throws in the second half. The Knights shot 50% from the floor but only were able to connect on 33% of their shots from deep. Along with better shooting, the Cardinal's bench was a big reason for the win, as the second unit gave the Cards 27 points, while Geneseo's bench only contributed seven points. 

The Cards now find themselves at 7-10 overall and move to 3-7 in SUNYAC play. They will make the trip to Oswego for their next game, playing the Lakers at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 21. Geneseo moves to 7-9 overall and falls to 4-5 in league action. They match up with Oswego at home on Jan. 31 for their next game. 

The game was closely contested throughout the first half, as the Cards three point shooting early helped them keep pace with the Knights. Infante hit the first trey of the game, Anderson Jr. followed with three-point makes on back-to-back possessions, and Myles Jones (Alexandria, Va./Blue Ridge School) hit a three at the 10:54 mark to put his team up 20-17. The Cards took the largest lead of the half at the 2:55 mark with a Jones fastbreak layup, but the Knights tied it back up with 30 seconds to go. With time winding down, Infante was able to keep his dribble through traffic and make a great pass to Salo, who finished the play with just one second to go to give the Cards a 35-33. 

In the second half, the Cardinal's offense was even more efficient than in the first half, putting in 56.7% of their shots from the field and six of their 15 three-point attempts. The game was still close for much of the half, with the Cards stretching their lead to nine points multiple times before going up by double digits permanently. Down the stretch, it was Tabb who downed the Knights almost by himself, scoring 12 points over the game's final six minutes. He put Plattsburgh up 11 with 6:11 to go, and then hit back-to-back three-pointers within the final two minutes to ice the game for the Cards. The sophomore guard knocked down all four of his free throws with under a minute to go as well, giving Plattsburgh the 84-73 win.