Box Score NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Until the final 1:27 of the Plattsburgh State/New Paltz men’s basketball clash, it looked like the Cardinals were well on their way to their seventh win in the last eight games.
Unfortunately, the Hawks had other ideas.
Matt Devine knocked down the game-clinching three-pointer with four seconds remaining to cap a 7-0 New Paltz run, shocking the Cardinals in a 75-72 setback to the Hawks at the Hawk Center on Saturday afternoon.
Coming into today’s game, the series between the Cardinals (13-7, 9-4 SUNYAC) and Hawks (8-12, 6-7 SUNYAC) hadn’t been very competitive. Plattsburgh State had won 17 of the last 18 meeting between the SUNYAC foes, and it appeared as though that trend would continue if Jordan Moody had anything to say about it.
The sophomore came out intent on giving the Cardinals the win, scoring the first four points of the game on his way to a career-high 23. From there, each squad swapped baskets – not to mention leads – until the Cardinals took the lead for the rest of the half as John Perez swished a pair of free throws that made things 17-15 with 9:41 to go in the stanza.
Alan Siergiej capped the 7-0 Plattsburgh State spurt with a layup that gave Plattsburgh State its largest lead of the first half, 22-15. The Plattsburgh State lead fluctuated for the rest of the first half and shrunk to one after Devine sank a pair of free throws with 1:21 to go in the stanza, but Ezra Hodgson canned a triple to send the Cardinals to their locker room at the half up 35-31.
Soaring out of the gates in the deciding stanza, New Paltz embarked on a 9-2 run culminating with a triple from Devine to take a 40-37 lead with 18:29 to go in the frame.
Moody took it to the Hawks again shortly thereafter, scoring seven points during an 11-3 Plattsburgh State surge to give the Cardinals a 48-43 lead with 15:11 remaining in the game.
Keeping control of the tempo and the game, the Cardinals weathered a number of small runs by the Hawks and employed a 4-0 run that finished with a layup from Reggie Williams that made it 71-63 Plattsburgh State with 2:34 remaining in the game.
That’s when things started to go downhill at a rapid pace.
Rattling off five straight points, the Hawks needed just 30 seconds to cut the Plattsburgh State lead to three before Shamoy McIntosh stepped to the foul line and hit one of his two attempts.
Kevin Roach went one-of-two at the stripe on the next New Paltz possession, but Shereef Taylor took to the sky to corral a crucial offensive rebound before tying matters at 72 with a long ball with 46 ticks to go.
On the next Plattsburgh State possession, Hodgson attempted a long three-pointer which fell well short. The rebound was hustled down by Taylor with 17 seconds to go, setting up the final play for the Hawks. After Devine’s cold-blooded hit from downtown, Moody couldn’t connect on a desperation attempt with one second to go.
Plattsburgh State struggled from the field, hitting just 25 of their 73 field goal attempts (34.2 percent) and went just 8-of-32 (25 percent) from beyond the arc. Although they couldn’t get many of their shots to fall, the Cardinals took care of the ball quite well, committing just 12 turnovers in the bout compared to 23 by the Hawks.
Aside from Moody, Hodgson was the only other Plattsburgh State player in double figures as the sophomore poured in 11. John Perez was one point away from his second consecutive double-double as the junior scored nine points and hauled in a game-high 15 rebounds.
Devine and Taylor each netted 20 for the Hawks, and Taylor completed a double-double with 10 boards. Deveino McRae chipped in 11 for New Paltz who shot 28-of-51 (54.9 percent) from the field, including an impressive 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) from long range.
The Cardinals will look to solidify their bid for a home playoff game at Memorial Hall with their road schedule in the books. First up is a Friday duel with Brockport with the tip scheduled to occur at 8 p.m.
