Box Score PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Going in to their first-round NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament game, Husson University thought it had a pretty good game plan to try and slow down an exceptionally quick Plattsburgh State squad.

The Cardinals, however, quickly taught the Eagles that there is a big difference between theory and application.

Six Plattsburgh State players recorded at least 10 points and the Cardinals ran wild in an 84-63 evisceration of Husson at Memorial Hall on Saturday night. In the victory, the Cardinals limited the Eagles to a 21-of-57 (36.8 percent) performance from the floor while forcing 18 turnovers.

 The Cardinals upped their overall mark to 20-8 – that includes a 12-1 record in Memorial Hall - thanks to a 55.2 percent (32-of-58) shooting performance. Plattsburgh State also sizzled from downtown throughout the entirety of the contest, swishing nine of their 19 attempts (47.4 percent) from that distance.

“Until you play against us, it’s tough for opposing teams to really see how quick we really are,” said Plattsburgh State head coach Tom Curle who led Plattsburgh State to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season. “In the first half, I just think we got up and down the floor a lot quicker than they were expecting us to and their lack of defensive transition really hurt them.”

The Eagles nabbed one of their two leads in the ball game when Brooks Spaulding netted the first points of the game with a mid-range jumper before Ezra Hodgson responded with a deep triple that helped the sizable Plattsburgh State congregation to its feet.

After Wes Murphy hit a tough driving layup to put the Eagles up 4-3, the Cardinals took the lead for good when Jordan Moody banked in a layup that made matters 5-4 with 16:15 to go in the first half. Reggie Williams followed up with a powerful two-handed slam dunk on the next Plattsburgh State possession to put a charge into the pro-Cardinal crowd.

Plattsburgh State saw its lead bulge to as many as nine in the first half of the initial 20-minute period when Chris Manning knifed through the lead-footed Husson defense for an easy layup that made it 17-8 Plattsburgh with 12:08 remaining in the frame.

The only thing that really slowed down the Cardinals were the numerous fouls that were piling up on them in the first stanza. After Hodgson was whistled for his second personal, Curle summoned Alan Siergiej from the bench whereupon the sophomore took it right to Husson’s imposing interior star Marc Zaharchuk.

Siergiej put in the next four points for the Cardinals with a series of nifty post moves that made it 29-17 Cardinals with 6:55 remaining in the frame.

Five free throw makes by the Eagles pulled them to within 29-22 as 5:16 showed on the scoreboard, but the Cardinals came up with a backbreaking response.

Shamoy McIntosh knocked down a wide-open trey before Kalik Parker followed up with a downtown make of his own as part of a 10-0 Plattsburgh State surge to conclude the first half.

Up by 16 heading into the second half, Plattsburgh State only had to fend off one more charge the Eagles for the rest of the game.

Jacob Moore nailed a three-pointer that made matters 46-37 with 15:27 to go in the game, but another two-handed slam from Williams kicked off a 6-0 Plattsburgh State spurt and the Cardinals never let their lead sink below 10 for the remainder of the game.

Hodgson led the way for Plattsburgh State with a game-high 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Moody added 13 for the Cardinals who secured their fourth 20-win season in program history – all under Curle’s watch.

Manning and McIntosh netted 11 each while Parker and Williams chipped in 10 apiece.

Eric Modica scored a team-high 13 for Husson which saw its season come to an end with a 20-9 mark. Zaharchuk added 12 and a game-high seven rebounds. Husson was 17-of-26 from the free throw stripe through the course of the tilt.  

With nearly one-half of the 62-team field eliminated, the Cardinals find themselves among 32 men’s basketball teams still standing in Division III. That number will be carved in half once again next weekend when Plattsburgh State travels to Amherst to face off against the No. 2-ranked Lord Jeffs.

“We understand that Amherst is imposing, but we won’t back away and we won’t be in awe of them. We’re going to play that game that we always play,” Curle added. “No game has ever been won on paper, so we’re going to step up and we’re going to compete next weekend.”

The second-round game will tip off at 7 p.m.