Box Score LANCASTER, Pa. – The last time the Plattsburgh State men’s basketball team found itself facing off against one of the top 25 teams in Division III, the Cardinals were involved in a tight affair with a No. 4-ranked Middlebury squad that just squeaked by them in the closing minutes.
In their first game of 2013, the Cardinals were once again embroiled in basketball warfare against a team firmly entrenched in the top 25, but this time the result was far more lopsided.
Plattsburgh State dropped a 71-55 decision to the No. 17-ranked Franklin & Marshall Diplomats in the second game of the Sponaugle New Year Tournament held at the Diplomats’ home court of Mayser Arena.
Although they shot 41.7 percent (20-of-48) from the floor, the Cardinals seemingly had no answer for the play of Franklin & Marshall’s Hayk Gyokchyan who finished with 40 points in the largely one-sided affair.
The Cardinals never held a lead in the tilt, and their smallest deficit was just one point after Ezra Hodgson knocked down a mid-range jumper that made it 3-2 in the opening minutes of the game.
Gyokchyan came out on fire, scoring 18 of the first 26 points of the game for the Diplomats on 7-of-8 shooting that included a 3-of-4 mark from beyond the arc. The only time the native of Lebanon misfired during that stretch was when Shavar Fields got his fingertips on a three-point attempt with 14:08 left to go in the first stanza.
Making matters worse for the Cardinals was their inability to score. After Edward Correa drilled a triple that made it 24-16 Diplomats with 12:18 to go in the opening frame, the Cardinals went cold from the field. For 8:10, Plattsburgh State couldn’t buy a basket until Mike Mitchell found Kalik Parker for an uncontested layup with 4:08 to go in the first half.
By then, the damage had been done and the Diplomats had a 35-18 lead – a lead which would shrink to no fewer than seven points for the remainder of the game.
With 7:18 remaining in the game, Mitchell found Parker again – this time standing unguarded beyond the three-point arc. The junior pulled up and knocked down the triple, bringing the Cardinals to within 53-42, but six consecutive points by Jon Salandra pushed the Franklin & Marshall lead back to 13.
John Perez was largely responsible for a last-ditch Plattsburgh State surge near the end of the contest, scoring the final seven points of the game for the Cardinals to bring his team-high total to 15. One of those baskets cut the Franklin & Marshall lead to 62-55 with 1:59 remaining, but there proved to be too much ground to make up for the Cardinals and the Diplomats finished things out at the free throw stripe.
Aside from Perez, Shamoy McIntosh netted 11 points and Parker finished with 10 to round out the primary scorers. The Cardinals, though, committed 25 turnovers while dishing out just 10 assists in the 40-minute game.
The Diplomats blistered the nets, shooting 60.5 percent (23-of-38) from the field and assisted on 17 of those baskets. Salandra was the only other player on the squad to finish in double-figures, netting 10 in the triumph. The Diplomats held a 30-27 rebounding advantage as well.
The Cardinals will face Salisbury, who lost to Eastern Connecticut State earlier in the day, in the consolation game of the Sponaugle New Year Tournament. The clubs will tip off at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
