GENESEO, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team fell on the road to Geneseo on Friday night, 66-64 in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play. After taking the lead on a clutch driving layup from Dylan Trombley (Moriah, N.Y. / Moriah) the Knights were able to respond with a layup of their own. The Cardinals had two opportunities to take the lead and or tie but were not able to convert offensively as they dropped the season series against Geneseo.

Trombley led the Cardinals in points with 13 and collected 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Trombley also dished out three assists and picked up a steal. Willard Anderson Jr. (Buffalo, N.Y. / East) was the next top scorer as he had 10 points to go with five rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal. Ikechukwu Ezike (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Paul Robeson) and Franklin Infante (East Rockaway, N.Y. / East Rockaway) both put in seven points while Ezike had four rebounds and two assists and Infante had eight rebounds, one assist, a steal, and a block. Orlando Dawkins (Mount Vernon, N.Y. / Mount Vernon) was on the boards for the Cardinals as he grabbed six rebounds to go along with his six points and one block. Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) also had six points and grabbed two rebounds and two steals.

For the Knights, Cole Kattan led the way with 22 points and eight rebounds. Josh Garelle and Robert Perocolosi were also in double figures with 14 and 12 respectively.

The Cardinals shot 36.9% from the field while the Knights shot a solid 40.0% from the field and 45.0% from the three on 9 of 20 compared to the Cardinals' 29.6% on 8 of 27. The Cardinals shot better from the free throw line making 8 of 12 at 66.7% while the Knights made 13 of 28 at 46.4%. Although the Knights shot worse the discrepancy came in the free throw attempts which doubled the Cardinals. The Cardinals pounded the boards as they grabbed 49 to Knights' 35 leading to 13 second-chance points. The Cardinals lost the turnover battle 23-19 as the Knights got 20 points off turnovers and the Cardinals 14.

Plattsburgh moves to 8-9 overall (5-5 SUNYAC) and are back in action tomorrow, Jan. 27 as they wrap up the weekend with a 4 pm matchup against Brockport. Geneseo moves to 9-9 overall (6-5 SUNYAC) and are back in action tomorrow, Jan. 27 as they host Potsdam for a 4 pm tip-off.

Kattan got the Knights on the board first with a three followed by an Ezike layup. Both teams exchanged baskets multiple times as Michael Gentile made a layup, Tim Thomas (Manhattan, N.Y. / Commonwealth Academy (Mass.)) a three, Garelle a three and Trombley a layup that made the score 8-7 Knights with less than 18 minutes to play. The Cardinals took the lead on a Sasha Vidrini (Trieste, Italy / Liceo Rogazionisti) layup and held it for the rest of the half. The Cardinals went on a 14-0 run from the 13:21 mark until the 8:54 mark that extended their lead to double digits and made the score 29-17 Cardinals. Kattan closed the half with a three that made the score 42-31 Cardinals at halftime.

The second half saw the Knights storm back as both teams traded runs and momentum in the second half. The Knights started the second half with a 7-0 run that ended at the 16:43 mark as Anderson Jr. made a layup that ended the run and made the score 44-38 Cardinals. Kattan made a three that made it a one-possession game but Infante made an and one layup that cushioned the lead and made the score 47-41 with less than 15 minutes to play. Trombley hit back-to-back threes as he capped off a 9-0 run and extended the Cardinals lead to double figures once again. The Knights went on a 10-0 run from the 9:39 mark until the 4:46 mark that cut the lead to three. Ezike ended the run with a free throw that made the score 59-54 Cardinals. After free throws from Sebastian Pacheco the Cardinal lead was three again before an and one layup from Tabb pushed it to six. Perocolosi made a layup followed by a Kattan layup and three and the Knights took the lead 63-62 with less than a minute to play. Trombley made a clutch driving layup as the Cardinals regained the lead momentarily before a Garelle layup gave it back to the Knights. The Cardinals had two offensive possessions, one with a chance to take the lead and the other to tie or take the lead, and weren't able to score as they fell 66-64.