PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – After a strong first half that saw the Cardinals outscore the Lakers 51-30 thanks to seven three-pointers, the Lakers turned the script in the second half outscoring the Cardinals 54-36, but the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team held on for a close 87-84 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win over Oswego State in Memorial Hall on Saturday evening. Senior guard Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) paced the Cardinal offense with 21 points and also had five assists, five rebounds, and two steals.

The next top performer for Plattsburgh was first-year guard/forward Nate Pondexter Jr. (Washington, D.C. / Archbishop Carroll) who had 15 points and five rebounds. Senior guard Sasha Vidrini (Trieste, Italy / Liceo Rogazionisti) contributed 14 points, two rebounds, an assist, and a block. Franklin Infante (East Rockaway, N.Y. / East Rockaway) and Ikechukwu Ezike (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Paul Robeson) rounded out the five scorers that reached double figures with 13 and 12 points respectively. Both grabbed four rebounds while Infante had a team-high five assists and a steal and Ezike added a block and a steal. Jeremiah Smith (Brooklyn, N.Y. / East New York Family Academy) had a solid performance with eight points, five rebounds, an assist, a block, and a steal.

For the Lakers, Billy Reyes scored a team-high 21 points while Xavier Allen had a strong performance with 20 points. Ahkee Anderson led the team in assists with a game-high 10 and Gary McLane led the team in rebounding with a game-high 10.

The Cardinals shot excellent on the evening, shooting a very efficient 59.1% from the field and 50.0% from behind the arc while going 24 of 33 from the free throw line at 72.7%. The Lakers shot efficiently as well, going 43.1% from the field, 32.0% from three, and 80.0% from the free throw line. The battle on the boards was close as the Cardinals had a slight edge 32-28 but the Lakers had 12 offensive rebounds that led to 19 second-chance points while the Cardinals only had seven second-chance points. The Lakers also took advantage of Plattsburgh turnovers, recording 26 points off turnovers compared to the Cardinals' nine.

Plattsburgh State rises to 7-7 (4-3 SUNYAC) with the win and next hosts Oneonta on Friday, Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Oswego State falls to 8-6 (4-3 SUNYAC) with the loss and next travels to Oneonta on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 5-0 lead at the 18:15 mark thanks to five straight points from Ezike and used a 9-0 run led by Tabb with five points to extend their lead to 17-4 at the 14:31 mark. The Cardinals offense continued to pour it on with another run led by Vidrini with seven points that pushed their lead to 33-8 at the 9:21 mark which was Plattsburgh's largest lead of the game. A quick 6-0 burst cut Plattsburgh's lead to 38-19 at the 5:20 mark but the Cardinals responded with back-to-back baskets and pushed their lead back to 20 plus points. The Cardinals had all the momentum the rest of the way and took a 51-30 lead into halftime.

The Cardinals controlled the second half until midway through the second half the Lakers battled back after a 9-0 run cut the Cardinals' lead to 68-55 at the 9:40 mark. Plattsburgh responded with five points and cushioned their lead to 73-55 but another run from Oswego made the score 75-63 Cardinals at the 5:29 mark. Each time the Cardinals responded, the Lakers continued to chip away, and a 5-0 burst made the score 83-78 and cut the Cardinals' lead to single digits at the 2:17 mark. A free throw from Vidrini stopped the Lakers' momentum momentarily but the Lakers responded with a 6-0 run and made the score 85-84 Cardinals with less than one minute remaining. The Lakers had a chance to take the lead but a clutch block from Ezike led to an Infante fastbreak layup that iced the game as the Cardinals went on to win 87-84.