ONEONTA, N.Y. – Despite five players scoring in double figures the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team came up just short, falling to Oneonta 82-78 in road State University of Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Saturday evening. Senior guards Franklin Infante (East Rockaway, N.Y. / East Rockaway) and Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) both recorded 18 points in the overall effort.

Infante tied for a game-high nine rebounds and six assists to pair with a steal and a block in an all-around performance while Tabb had six rebounds, three steals, and two assists. First-year guard/forward Nate Pondexter Jr. (Washington, D.C. / Archbishop Carroll) had a strong outing with 14 points and six rebounds followed by senior guard/forward Ikechukwu Ezike (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Paul Robeson) with 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal. Kareem Welch (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) was the last player in double figures for Plattsburgh with 11 points to go with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.

For the Red Dragons, Kobe Long led all players in scoring with 28 points to go with his six assists that tied for a game high. Elijah Castillo, Delano Knox, and Cam LaClair recorded 16, 13, and 10 points respectively. Caleb Brown tied for a game-high with nine rebounds to go with seven points.

The Cardinals shot well from the three, shooting 46.2% and knocking down 6 of 13 but only shot 36.6% from the field overall while the Red Dragons shot 44.8% from the field and 33.3% from the three. Both teams made 20 plus free throws as the Cardinals knocked down 20 of 26 at 76.9% and the Red Dragons 25 of 28 at 89.3%. The Cardinals won the battle on the glass 42-34 and turned 18 offensive rebounds into 23 second-chance points compared to the Red Dragons' seven. Both teams had 10 turnovers on the day, but Plattsburgh recorded 11 points off turnovers while the Red Dragons had six.

Plattsburgh State falls to 11-10 (8-6 SUNYAC) and is back in action on Friday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to Oswego State. Oneonta moves to 14-8 (9-6 SUNYAC) and is back in action on Friday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to Cortland.

Plattsburgh quickly jumped out to a 6-0 lead at the 16:49 mark after Tabb opened the game with two free throws followed by a jumper from Infante and two more free throws from Ezike. Oneonta responded with a 5-0 burst and then used back-to-back baskets from Knox to take an 11-9 lead at the 13:10 mark. Baskets from Infante and Ezike tied the game twice, but the Red Dragons countered with back-to-back layups and retook the lead 18-14 at the 11:59 mark. Oneonta led the rest of the half however, a 6-0 run from Plattsburgh led by Pondexter Jr. with four points brought the Cardinals within two with less than five minutes to go in the half. The Red Dragons responded with four straight points pushing their lead to 35-29 at the 2:41 mark and used a 5-0 burst to take a 40-33 lead into halftime.

After both teams exchanged layups and three-pointers to open the second half, Oneonta led 45-38 and then used an 8-0 run to push their lead 53-40 at the 13:43 mark. The Cardinals continued to cut away at the Red Dragon lead and went on an 8-0 run of their own led by Infante with four points that made the score 59-52 Red Dragons at the 8:53 mark. However, Oneonta responded and pushed their lead back to double digits after a Knox layup capped off another Red Dragons run that made the score 68-52 at the 6:55 mark. After two free throws from Castillo made the score 74-60 giving the Red Dragons' lead some cushion, Plattsburgh countered with a 9-0 run led by Tabb with five points that made the score 74-69 with less than a minute to go. After intentional fouls sent Long and Castillo to the line, they both made their free throws keeping the game out of reach for Plattsburgh, and with limited time left the Cardinals eventually fell 82-78.