NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – After going into halftime with a double-digit lead, the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team dominated the second half en route to a dominant 81-57 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win over New Paltz on Friday night to pick up the season sweep over the Hawks. Junior guard Kareem Welch (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) paced the Cardinal offense with a game-high 18 points and also had five rebounds and one steal.

The Cardinals had a balanced offense tonight with four total players in double figures with senior guard/forward Ikechukwu Ezike (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Paul Robeson) being the next top performer with 15 points to go with six rebounds and two steals. Senior guards Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) and Franklin Infante (East Rockaway, N.Y. / East Rockaway) both had strong performances with 14 and 13 points respectively. Tabb recorded two rebounds, two assists, and two steals while Infante had four rebounds and one steal. Jeremiah Smith (Brooklyn, N.Y. / East New York Family Academy) had a solid performance with eight points to go with six rebounds, two steals, and a block. Ladan Graves (Pelham, N.Y. / Pelham Memorial) led all players in rebounding with seven to pair with six points and a steal.

For the Hawks, Trevor Amalfitano led his team in scoring with 12 points. Mitchell Cumings was also in double figures with 10 points. Lucas Seyoum led the team in rebounding with six while Ethan St. Lucis led the team in assists with three.

The Cardinals shot well tonight, shooting a very efficient 60.0% from the field, and while the team only had five shots from behind the arc, they knocked down three at an efficient 40.0%. The Hawks only shot 33.3% from the field and 20.0% from behind the arc. Neither team performed well at the stripe with the Cardinals shooting 52.0% and the Hawks 59.1%. The Cardinals dominated the glass 38-25 and both teams recorded seven second-chance points. While the Cardinals committed more turnovers than the Hawks, they were able to capitalize off the Hawks' turnovers, recording 25 points off turnovers while the Hawks only had 16.

Plattsburgh State rises to 11-9 (8-5 SUNYAC) with the win and next plays tomorrow, Feb. 8 when they travel to Oneonta for a 4 p.m. tip-off. New Paltz falls to 14-7 (10-4 SUNYAC) with the loss and next hosts Potsdam tomorrow, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m.

The first few minutes of play were back and forth until a 9-0 Plattsburgh tear led by Infante with seven points gave the Cardinals a 17-7 lead at the 13:43 mark. New Paltz countered the Cardinals' run with an 11-0 run and took an 18-17 lead momentarily at the 11:48 mark until an AJ Williams Jr. (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Paul Robeson) layup put the Cardinals back on top 19-18 at the 11:14 mark. That Williams Jr. layup started a 7-0 burst for the Cardinals which extended their lead to 24-18 at the 7:03 mark. New Paltz battled back and came within two, however, another 9-0 run for Plattsburgh led by Welch with five points extended the Cardinals' lead to 33-22 at the 2:23 mark as Plattsburgh went into halftime with a 37-25 lead.

Plattsburgh had a strong start to the second half that saw two 6-0 runs that featured four points from Graves push the Cardinals' lead to 49-27 at the 14:49 mark. The Cardinals' strong second half continued as a 5-0 burst courtesy of Ezike gave Plattsburgh their largest lead of the game at the time at 54-30 at the 12:48 mark. Plattsburgh's offense never let up using an 8-0 run led by Welch with four points to extend their lead to 74-46 and then took their largest lead of the game at 29 with a layup from Infante that made the score 76-47 at the 3:37 mark before ultimately winning 81-57.