POTSDAM, N.Y. – With four players in double figures led by senior guard Franklin Infante (East Rockaway, N.Y. / East Rockaway) with 15 points, the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team pulls away in the second half to beat Potsdam 86-69 on Tuesday night. Infante also had two rebounds, two steals, an assist, and a block.

Kareem Welch (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) and Nate Pondexter Jr. (Washington, D.C. / Archbishop Carroll) both contributed 13 points for the Cardinal offense. Welch recorded his third double-double of the season as he dished out a game-high 10 assists to go with four rebounds while Pondexter Jr. tied for a team-high six rebounds with Ikechukwu Ezike (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Paul Robeson). Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) and Ezike had 11 and nine points respectively while Tabb had four assists and three rebounds and Ezike six rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Jeremiah Smith (Brooklyn, N.Y. / East New York Family Academy) had a solid performance as well with eight points, four rebounds, and four assists.

For the Bears, Mohammad Sylla led all players in scoring with 21 points to go with seven rebounds. Walter deFreitas had 11 points while both Khalil Screen and Parker Kelly both had 10 points. Screen led all players in rebounding with 12.

The Cardinals had a very good shooting night, shooting 50.0% from the field and 40.9% from behind the arc while the Bears shot an efficient 42.0% from the field and 27.2% from three. Both teams shot 50.0% from the free-throw line. The Bears won the battle on the boards 44-37 and got 15 second-chance points while the Cardinals only got seven. The Cardinals took care of the ball while forcing 15 Potsdam turnovers and got 15 points off those turnovers while the Bears only had four points off turnovers.

Plattsburgh State rises to 5-7 (2-3 SUNYAC) with the win and next opens up a seven-game homestand starting with Canton on Friday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Potsdam falls to 2-9 (2-3 SUNYAC) with the loss and is back in action when they host Oswego State on Friday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

The game was tightly contested to start and after Sylla and Pondexter Jr. exchanged three-pointers the score was knotted at 9 at the 16:12 mark. Plattsburgh then scored the next five points and took a 14-9 lead, but the Bears tied the game once again at 16 after a layup from Kelly at the 13:15 mark. Midway through the first half a 6-0 burst from Plattsburgh gave the Cardinals a 28-18 lead at the 9:17 mark. A layup from Welch at the 3:56 mark made the score 41-25 and gave the Cardinals their largest lead of the game, but the Bears cut Plattsburgh's lead to single digits after a layup from Ethan Baksh made the score 44-35 at halftime.

The second half saw the Bears battle back powered by a 10-0 run with contributions from Sylla and deFreitas and take a 51-50 lead at the 13:25 mark. The Cardinals battled back after a 7-0 run with baskets from Damari Johnson (Binghamton, N.Y. / Johnson City), Ezike, and Infante made the score 64-60 Cardinals at the 7:20 mark. Another run for Plattsburgh pushed the Cardinals' lead to 71-62, however, Potsdam responded with five straight points and made the score 71-67 Cardinals at the 3:44 mark. Back-to-back three-pointers from Infante and Ezike sparked an 11-0 Plattsburgh run lifting the Cardinals to an 86-69 win.