Box Score GENESEO, N.Y. – A battle between two teams tied for first place in the State University of New York Athletic Conference more than lived up to its billing, but the Plattsburgh State men’s basketball team couldn’t complete a thrilling comeback, falling 66-64 to SUNY Geneseo on Friday night at Schraeder Gymnasium.

The Cardinals were able to throw up a prayer from half court at the buzzer, but it was far too strong as Plattsburgh State dropped to 7-5 and 3-2 in league games while the Knights improved to 8-4 and 4-1 in the league. Additionally, Geneseo moved into sole possession of first place in the league after Buffalo State fell to Cortland.

Chris Manning gave Plattsburgh State its only lead in an otherwise forgettable first half for the Cardinals. The junior sunk a midrange jumper before stepping to the free throw line and coolly sinking his attempt for a 3-2 lead less than one minute into the frame.

It appeared the Knights were on pace for a blowout as they opened up a 34-16 through the course of the initial 20-minute frame. Unwilling to go down easily, the Cardinals responded with some offensive punch of their own.

Reggie Williams threw down a dunk that ignited a 10-3 Plattsburgh State run that spanned the remainder of the stanza. Williams accounted for half of the Cardinals’ points during the surge, while Edward Correa added a three-pointer and Shavar Fields swished a pair of free throws.

Plattsburgh State turnovers were a large reason the Knights were allowed to build up such a large lead. Geneseo amassed 14 points on turnovers in the first frame.

Manning set the tone almost immediately in the deciding half, grabbing one of his five steals before bounding the length of the court for a fast break layup. That was the start of a 7-0 run that brought the Cardinals within seven after John Perez banked in a layup thanks to an assist from Shamoy McIntosh.

From there, the Geneseo lead would remain in single digits for the remainder of the game thanks to any number of Cardinals.

Trailing 50-41 with 9:31, the Cardinals began to light it up from downtown. Mike Mitchell started the three-point bombardment before Correa swished another trey on the next Plattsburgh State possession. Finally, Kalik Parker launched and buried a deep triple that made the score 55-50 in favor of the Knights.

Fields, on a hard-driving move to the tin, was hacked and stepped to the charity stripe and sunk both attempts to bring the Cardinals within three, 55-52, with five minutes remaining.

Minutes later, however, it looked like the Cardinals were out of it completely after a 5-0 run made things 62-52 Geneseo with 2:29 to go.

That’s when things got interesting.

After Williams drained yet another jumper, the Knights were whistled for a shot clock violation. On the ensuing Plattsburgh State possession, John Perez kept things alive with an offensive rebound before hitting a short jumper and getting fouled. The junior completed the three-point play at the free throw line that made it 64-59 with 60 seconds remaining.

A pair of Marcus Hoy free throws brought the Knights’ lead to seven, but McIntosh reduced the advantage to five by connecting on a layup after he grabbed an offensive rebound provided by Mitchell’s errant three-pointer.

Two timeouts later, Ryan Riefenhauser misfired from the free throw line for the Knights, allowing McIntosh to rise up and bury a deep triple that made it 66-64 with five seconds remaining.

A pair of free throw misfires by Jordan Jones gave the Cardinals their final chance at what would have been a wild win.

Geneseo shot 27-of-47 (57.4 percent) from the field in the game, but made good on just six of their 13 free throw attempts (46.2 percent). The free throw numbers by the Knights were exactly the same as their numbers from three-point range.

Hitting on 44.6 percent (25-of-56) of their shots, the Cardinals went 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line and 6-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Connor Fedge pumped in a game-high 15 points for the Knights while Jones and Riefenhauser chipped in 13 markers each.

Manning finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting while McIntosh had 12. Perez added 10 and a team-high four rebounds. The Cardinals were out-rebounded 31-27 in the tilt and had a 2-0 advantage in blocked shots.

Plattsburgh State, who is still searching for its first win in 2013, will head to Brockport for a matchup with the Golden Eagles. The SUNYAC tilt is scheduled to tip off at 4 p.m. on Saturday.