SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team dropped the opening game of the Sig Makofski Invitational hosted by Union College on Saturday afternoon at Viniar Athletic Center. Despite a career day for Kareem Welch (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) distributing the ball with a Plattsburgh State career-high and a game-high 12 assists, a strong second half for Colby led them to a 100-70 victory as the Cardinals fell in the non-conference matchup. 
 
The Cardinals had three players in double figures, led by senior guard Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) with 12 points and four rebounds. Sasha Vidrini (Trieste, Italy / Liceo Rogazionisti) and Ladan Graves (Pelham, N.Y. / Pelham Memorial) both made contributions to the offensive end as well. Vidrini notched 11 points, while Graves had a career-high 10 points and two rebounds. Irwayne Connell Jr.(Brooklyn, N.Y. National Christian Academy) and Welch both added seven points, while Welch also had five rebounds to go with his career-high 12 assists. Nate Pondexter Jr. (Washington, D.C. / Archbishop Carroll) led the team in rebounding with a career-high seven. 
 
For the Mules, Max Poulton led all players in points with a game-high 22 and also had four steals as well. Sam Hinman also reached double figures with 14 points while Dan Civello led his team in rebounding with seven.
 
The Cardinals shot an efficient 42.0% from the field and 38.9% from behind the arc but only went 5 of 11 at the stripe shooting 45.5%. The Mules shot an efficient 52.2% from the field, 38.7% from three, and 66.7% from the free throw line shooting 15 more free throws than the Cardinals. The Mules outrebounded the Cardinals 42-35 and had 27 second-chance points compared to the Cardinals 16. The Cardinals only got 13 points off 12 Colby turnovers while the Mules had 26 points off 14 Plattsburgh turnovers. 
 
Plattsburgh State moves to 1-4 with the loss and will await the loser of the Union and VTSU-Lyndon game, as they will play in the Sig Makofski Invitational consolation game tomorrow, Dec. 1, at 2 p.m. Colby College moves to 6-1 with the win and will await the winner of the Union and VTSU-Lyndon game, as they will play in the Sig Makofski Invitational championship game tomorrow, Dec. 1, at 4 p.m. 
 
Poulton opened the game with back-to-back threes and gave Colby the early lead. However, Tabb responded with a three of his own and made the score 6-3 Mules at the 18:31 mark. A quick 5-0 burst extended the Mules lead to 12-5 before Franklin Infante (East Rockaway, N.Y. / East Rockaway) ended the run with a jumper that made the score 12-7 Mules at the 14:54 mark. A jumper from Welch followed by a three from Vidrini made the score 15-12 Mules, and then a layup from Tabb tied the score at 17 all at the 11:23 mark. The game continued to stay close as Welch knocked down a jumper and tied the score at 24, but a 9-0 Colby run gave the Mules a 33-24 lead at the 5:58 mark. Colby held onto their lead for the remainder of the half as Tabb drove to the basket for a layup, followed by a three from Rashard Doyal that ended the half and made the score 48-38 Mules at halftime. 
 
Colby didn't take long to get on the board in the second half as Marcos Montiel opened the second half with a layup followed by a Tabb three-pointer and Graves layup that made the score 50-43 Mules at the 18:31 mark. Back-to-back baskets for Plattsburgh brought the Cardinals within five, but the Mules continued to respond. After an Infante jumper made the score 60-53, Colby went on a 14-0 run from the 12:15 mark until the 8:54 mark that made the score 74-53 Mules with less than nine minutes remaining. The Cardinals' offense couldn't make any runs to cut into the Mules' lead and eventually fell 100-70 in the opening game of the Sig Makofski Invitational.