Box Score PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Revenge, as they say, is a dish best served cold.
The Plattsburgh State men’s basketball team, though, decided to heat up in order to exact theirs against Buffalo State on Saturday (Dec. 8).
After enduring a pair of lopsided setbacks to the Bengals a season ago, the Cardinals hit 48.5 percent (32-of-66) of their field goal attempts and began the game on a 20-6 run to slow down the high-octane Bengals and earn a 93-85 victory over their league foes in Memorial Hall.
The Cardinals improved to 7-2 and 3-1 in league tilts with the victory while the Bengals were handed their first SUNYAC loss of 2012-13 and sit at 5-2 and 3-1 in the conference.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was sophomore Jordan Moody, who netted a career-high 21 points as part of a quartet of Plattsburgh State players that finished with 10 or more in the victory.
After the leading scorer in the SUNYAC in Roderick Epps got things going for the Bengals, Ezra Hodgson responded with a mid-range jumper as part of a back-and-forth initial flurry by the squads before the Cardinals began to heat up.
Chris Manning found Moody standing unguarded beyond the arc and picked up his first of a game-high 11 assists as Moody connected on a long ball to begin the decisive Plattsburgh State run. After Moody’s hit from deep, Shamoy McIntosh got going, netting the next five points for the Cardinals with a pair of free throws and a deep triple of his own.
Building up a lead of 12, the Cardinals surrendered a jumper to Buffalo State’s Ryan Carney before Manning came up with a steal and threw a pass to McIntosh who threw down a two-handed fast break slam dunk to put a charge in the Plattsburgh State faithful.
The high-flying Bengals, though, made it a game again rather quickly getting to within four after a layup from Jake Simmons, but foul trouble would be a big reason why the Bengals couldn’t get going. Epps was whistled for a pair of quick personal fouls less than three minutes in and was forced to take a seat.
Without their dynamic guard, the Bengals - who were averaging 89.8 points per game - had few options to rely on and the Cardinals were able to take advantage.
Plattsburgh State put up 50 points in the first half ad entered the locker room at halftime sporting a 50-39 advantage.
Continuing what they started in the first stanza, the Cardinals used a 15-5 run to take a 65-44 lead over the Bengals with 15:49 to go in the game.
Although the Cardinals emerged as the victors, they had a devil of a time trying to control Buffalo State’s formidable post player Anyar Majak. The sophomore punished the Plattsburgh State interior, netting a game-high 27 points but even that combined with 26 from Epps wasn’t enough for the Bengals.
Hodgson finished with 13 for the Cardinals while McIntosh and Kalik Parker added 10 each. Plattsburgh State was eight-of-20 from beyond the arc and connected on 21 of their 29 tries at the free throw stripe.
The Cardinals also ripped down 43 boards compared to 41 by the Bengals. In addition to its scorching shooting touch, the Cardinals moved the ball extremely well, amassing 24 assists in the win.
The Cardinals, who have played their last game in 2012, will have three weeks off before heading to Lancaster, Pa., to take part in the Sponaugle New Year Tournament on Tuesday, January 2, 2013. A new year will bring about another tough test for the Cardinals as they are scheduled to play tournament host and No. 8-ranked Franklin and Marshall at 8 p.m. that day.
