Box Score KEENE, N.H. – Prior to the beginning of the 2012-13 season, Plattsburgh State head men’s basketball coach Tom Curle figured his deep bench would be the deciding factor in a number of wins for his team.
 
That was certainly the case at Spaulding Gymnasium on Tuesday (Dec. 4) evening as Jordan Moody matched a career-high with 15 points as part of a 29-point performance from the Plattsburgh State bench brigade to lead the Cardinals to a 70-64 victory over Keene State.
 
The Cardinals (5-2) forced 27 turnovers, and overcame a 35-point performance from Ryan Martin to earn the win.
 
“It felt great being able to contribute to my team’s performance tonight,” said Moody. “I have to give all the credit to my teammates, though. I was just trying to get to open spots and I was able to get some pretty easy shots off of some great passes.”
 
Playing in the presence of a sizable contingent of his family and friends, Ezra Hodgson got the offensive fireworks going for the Cardinals by drilling a long triple for the first points of the game thanks to an assist by Shamoy McIntosh.
 
Ryan Martin would prove to be responsible for the only Keene State (3-3) advantage of the opening 20 minutes, sinking a mid-range jumper that gave the Owls a 7-5 lead with 17:46 remaining in the half.
 
After Martin drained another two-point jumper to knot things at nine, the Cardinals embarked on a 10-2 run with a deep two by Gary Tibbs followed by another long ball off the hands of Hodgson. From there, Tibbs added an additional deep two before Edward Correa pulled up from some four feet beyond the three-point arc and gave Plattsburgh State its largest lead of the half at 19-11.
 
Mired in an offensive slump until this point, the Owls responded with a 5-0 spurt of their own to pull within 21-18 before Mike Mitchell pulled up from deep and sunk a triple with a Keene State defender harassing him.
 
The minor burst of momentum didn’t last long, though, as Rashad Wright threw down a one-handed flush on the next Keene State possession to excite the large pro-Owl congregation.
 
After swapping baskets on the next couple of possessions, the Cardinals found themselves clinging to a 26-24 lead with 5:41 left in the first stanza before a free throw from Jordan Moody and an aggressive three-point play from McIntosh pushed the lead back to six.
 
Martin, though, led a late Keene State run of the 6-1 variety over the final 4:15 of the half to make the halftime score 31-30 in favor of Plattsburgh State. Martin netted every point during the spurt while the Cardinals went 0-of-8 from the field while committing four turnovers.
 
Feeling it after an efficient first half of basketball, Martin came out like gangbusters in the deciding frame, netting 14 of the first 18 points for the Owls from numerous locations on the floor. After a 4-0 Keene State run to open the frame, the Cardinals went on a 7-0 spurt to retake the lead, highlighted by an alley-oop slam by John Perez from Mitchell.
 
After Martin had poured in his 28^th point of the evening to give the Owls a 48-43 lead, the Cardinals responded with an 8-0 run finished off with an acrobatic one-on-one layup from Moody followed by a jump hook in the paint by Shavar Fields giving the visitors a 51-48 edge.
 
From there, the contest morphed into a disjointed physical battle as no squad was able to gain much of an advantage, before Correa entered the game to provide an instant offensive spark. The freshman canned a corner triple and posted an easy layup on the next possession to kick-start an 8-0 run that gave the Cardinals control of the game.
Electing to try and pound the ball inside, the Owls came up empty time and time again down the stretch, until a Rashad Wright jumper with 1:45 remaining made it a 62-60 lead for the Cardinals.
 
Moody, though, single-handedly quieted the raucous Keene State crowd, putting the game on ice by accounting for the final eight points of the game, including a cold-blooded corner three-ball that pushed the Plattsburgh State lead to 68-60 with just 31 seconds remaining in the tilt.
 
Martin was 12-of-16 from the field in the game, but no other player on the Keene State roster amassed over six points. The Owls dished out only five assists during the game, while the Cardinals passed out 15 including a game-high six from Mitchell and five from Chris Manning.
 
Hodgson added 12 for the Cardinals, who shot 23-of-61 (37.7 percent) from the field and 17-of-24 (70.8 percent) from the foul line. Perez made his presence known in the rebounding game, grabbing a team-high 12. The Owls made good on 22 of their 55 field goal attempts (40 percent) and were 17-of-25 (68 percent) from the free throw stripe. The Owls also out-rebounded the Cardinals 43-37 thanks to a game-high 15 from Wright.
 
Plattsburgh State will play its final set of home games this weekend, beginning with a Friday SUNYAC date with Fredonia State. The league tilt is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.