Box Score LANCASTER, Pa. – This certainly wasn’t the way the Plattsburgh State men’s basketball team wanted to begin 2013.
 
Instead of bouncing back after a difficult setback to No. 17-ranked Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday (Jan. 2), the Cardinals (7-4) ran into a hot-shooting Salisbury (10-4) squad that handed them their most lopsided setback of the 2012-13 campaign via an 87-69 tally in the consolation game of the Sponaugle New Year Tournament.
 
Like the Diplomats did the night before, the Sea Gulls scorched the nets, finishing with a shooting percentage of 55.3 (26-of-47 from the field) compared to a 26-of-60 (43.3 percent) performance by the Cardinals. In addition to hitting the majority of their shots, the Seagulls owned a 36-24 rebounding advantage over Plattsburgh State as well.
 
Offense was in short supply in the early stages of the game, with John Perez accounting for the only points of the first 3:31 of action when he banked home a layup courtesy of a half-court pass from Chris Manning.
 
Once the squads found their respective rhythms on the offensive end of the floor, it came in spurts. Neither team was able to establish a lead of more than four points for the first 12:59 of action in the opening frame.  
 
Trailing the Sea Gulls 19-18 with 8:24 showing on the first half clock, Kalik Parker was fouled on a mid-range jumper attempt, allowing the junior to go to the free throw stripe and bury a pair of shots. That 20-19 lead was the last advantage the Cardinals would possess in the half, though.
 
Thanks in large part to the Salisbury twosome of Tim Harwood and Trent Epps, the Sea Gulls took control of the game. The two poured in 11 points each in the first stanza, and led Salisbury on a 25-11 run that spanned the remainder of the half.
 
Plattsburgh State tried it all in order to make up lost ground, but came up empty time and time again – especially from beyond the arc. Jordan Moody drilled the lone three-point field goal for the Cardinals in the first 20 minutes of play and Plattsburgh State finished with a 1-of-10 mark from that particular distance during that span.
 
Seeing the shots simply were not falling, the Cardinals pounded the ball inside and stayed within 13 at the halftime break thanks to an 8-of-11 mark at the charity stripe and nine points from the hand of Moody.
 
Staring a 44-31 deficit squarely in the face to begin the deciding frame, the Cardinals aimed to employ another strong second-half performance to get back into the thick of things. Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse when Salisbury opened up the half on a 25-9 run.
 
The spurt – which spanned the first 8:04 of the second 20-minute period – left Plattsburgh State reeling and the Cardinals could get no closer than 16 points away for the remainder of the tilt.
 
Harwood netted a game-high 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Epps added 17 and each member of the duo went 5-of-5 from the free throw stripe.
 
Moody finished with a team-high 11 for the Cardinals while John Perez added 10 of his own. Plattsburgh State did commit just 12 turnovers - seven fewer than Salisbury. The Sea Gulls connected on 10 of their 19 attempts from long range and 25 of their 30 free throws. The Cardinals were just 4-of-23 (17.4 percent) from downtown and 13-of-19 at the charity stripe.
 
With no more non-conference games remaining on their 2012-13 regular season schedule, the Cardinals will have a little over one week off before re-engaging in SUNYAC action. Their first league game will pit the Cardinals – who sit in second place in the league standings – against the SUNY Geneseo Knights who sit atop the conference standings. The game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. on Friday, January 11, in Geneseo.