Boxscore & Play-by-Play

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Shavar Fields had a career-high 16 points and Plattsburgh State cut a 13-point deficit to one late in the second half but Oswego State escaped with a 79-76 win over the Cardinals in State University of New York Athletic Conference action Friday night.

Oswego’s Chad Burridge put the Lakers up by 13 with a dunk with 4:08 to go in the second half. But the Cardinals found themselves down by one with 14 seconds left following a 9-0 run. After Oswego extended the lead to three, Ryan Sheridan stole the ball off Carl Munnerlyn at midcourt on the Cardinals’ inbound pass with four seconds left to secure the win.

Burridge led all scorers with 18 points, including going 8-for-10 from the charity stripe. He also had a team-high eight rebounds. Hayden Ward was the game’s second-highest scorer with 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting.

Fields’ 16 points came in 19 minutes off the bench. He also hauled in seven rebounds, five of which were offensive. Errol Daniyan backed Fields up with 15 points and also had a game-high nine rebounds. Twenty-two of the Cardinals’ 46 rebounds came on the offensive boards.

Chris Ruiz (13), Munnerlyn (10) and Steve Thomas (10) were also in double figures in scoring for the Cardinals. Ruiz had a game-high six assists in the loss.

The difference in the game came down to free throws. The Cardinals were just 18-for-33 from the line — a percentage of 54.5. The Lakers converted on 15 of their 21 free throws.

After surrendering the lead with 5:05 to play in the first half, the Cardinals did not get it back for the rest of the game. With the loss, Plattsburgh falls to 14-7, 10-4 in the SUNYAC. The Lakers, ranked No. 1 in the NCAA East Region rankings, improve to 18-3, 13-1 SUNYAC.

The Cardinals will play their final regular-season home game of the season Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. against Cortland. Eight Plattsburgh seniors will be honored before the game.