Box Score CANTON, N.Y. – If you ask any basketball pundit, they’ll probably say a couple key things are necessary to win any game. One of those integral components is limiting turnovers.
 
Just ask the Plattsburgh State men’s basketball team.
 
The Cardinals forced 20 St. Lawrence turnovers and scored 24 points off of them while committing just nine of their own and also utilized 40 bench points including a game-high 15 from Kalik Parker to take down the Saints 84-68 on Tuesday (Nov. 27) at Burkman Gymnasium.
 
“We kept the ball in the hands of our points guards tonight,” said Plattsburgh State head coach Tom Curle. “That’s what was effective for us tonight. When you combine that with the 12 assists and two turnovers they had, good things are going to happen.”
 
Ezra Hodgson started the scoring with a baseline jumper some 23 seconds after the opening tip. That shot was the beginning of a back-and-forth nine-minute period as neither team was able to gain a lead of more than three points during that span.
 
Leading by one, the Cardinals gave up a Brandon Rivers layup to make things 17-16 St. Lawrence with 11:59 remaining in the first stanza. Less than a minute later, Jordan Moody picked up a foul while defending on the perimeter against Kyle Miller who stepped to the line and drained all three free throw attempts to give the Saints their largest lead of the game at 20-16.
 
Seconds later, Kalik Parker came off the bench and made the Saints pay for their lackluster perimeter defense.
 
The 6-4 Brooklyn, N.Y., product went on a tear from downtown, single-handedly giving the Cardinals control of the game with a trio of long range buckets on the next three possessions for Plattsburgh State.
 
It wasn’t long until Parker’s teammates caught fire from distance, as Edward Correa swished a pair of triples and Shamoy McIntosh drilled one of his own to extend the Plattsburgh State lead to 38-30 with 1:46 remaining in the first half.
 
“We have two of our best shooters coming off the bench,” said Curle. “As long as our defensive intensity stays the same, our point production should go up when Kalik and Edward come in the game.”
 
After a Chris Manning layup, Payton Stahler hit one of his two free throw attempts for the Saints, sending the Cardinals to the locker room at halftime with a 40-32 advantage.
 
The Saints got to within three after a 7-2 run culminated with a layup by Janpeter Brase 2:50 into the deciding frame. Fortunately, McIntosh was there with a triple on the next Plattsburgh State possession to push the Cardinals’ lead to 45-39 and stop any plans of a St .Lawrence comeback at that juncture.
 
McIntosh was at it again for the next pair of Plattsburgh State points, forcing a St. Lawrence turnover and coming up with a fast break dunk on the other end. After the Saints cut the Plattsburgh State lead down to six again with 15:49 remaining in the half, John Perez came through with a layup and Parker followed that up with yet another deep triple on the following possession to push the Plattsburgh State lead to double digits for the first time in the game at 52-41.
 
Not solely content with lighting it up from downtown, Parker provided perhaps the greatest highlight of the contest, finishing off an alley-oop slam off of a dandy pass from Manning with 13:45 remaining in the tilt.
 
After the crowd-silencing jam, the Cardinals never let their lead dip below seven points for the remainder of the tilt, seeing it balloon to as many as 18 before the final horn sounded.
 
Plattsburgh State hit 31 of its 56 shots in the tilt, good for a 55.4 percent clip while the Saints weren’t far behind, going 22-for-40 from the field for 55 percent. While Plattsburgh State sent the Saints to the charity stripe on 31 occasions, they made good on just 16 of those opportunities – a clip of just 51.6 percent. The Cardinals did lose the rebounding battle, though, 30-27.
 
McIntosh added 12 points while Perez and Manning each chipped in 11. The latter went 4-of-4 from the field and dished out a game-high nine assists while getting a game-high five steals as well.  The Cardinals had 19 helpers in the game compared to 14 by the Saints.
 
The Cardinals begin their SUNYAC slate of games on Friday, opening the league season with a trip to Oswego State to take on the Lakers. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m.