CANTON, N.Y. – Set to check in midway through the second half, Plattsburgh State men's basketball point guard Mike Mitchell could do little more than stifle a laugh from the scorer's table as yet another Cardinal field goal attempt hit nothing but net.

Who could blame him, though? It was somewhat laughable at the rate the Cardinals were shooting the basketball.

It appeared as though the Cardinals could do no wrong once the final frame commenced, hitting 50 percent of both their field goals (11-of-22) and long balls (6-of-12) as they ran away with a 71-49 victory over St. Lawrence (2-3) to move to 4-1 in the infancy of the 2014-15 campaign.

Once again, balance was the word which best defined the hot-shooting Cardinals as three players finished the contest in double figures led by Ezra Hodgson's 14 on 5-of-7 shooting. Edward Correa pumped in 11 while junior Xavier Thomas registered 10 – all of which came in the opening 20 minutes of play.

For the game, Plattsburgh State hit 47.9-percent (23-of-48) of its field goals and 48.1-percent (13-of-27) of its attempts from beyond the arc. A stifling defensive effort by the visitors limited St. Lawrence to a shooting clip of just 34.5-percent (34.5-percent).

On the strength of a three-point hit from Brady Condlin, the Saints jumped out to an early 5-2 lead before the visiting squad settled in and took over for good. Led by the sharpshooting Hodgson who nailed back-to-back triples which made the score 8-5 in favor of the visitors, Plattsburgh State set off on a 14-5 scoring surge.

Three-pointers were the Cardinals' preferred weapon through the course of that opening spree as McIntosh and Jordan Moody each added one to push the Plattsburgh State lead to 16-9 with 11:37 to go in the first half.

With Condlin helming things from an offensive standpoint, the Saints climbed back into the picture. Condlin, a Massena, N.Y., product, pumped in four points while Riley Naclerio added a St. Lawrence trifecta which trimmed the Cardinals' edge to 18-16 as the clock wore down to eight minutes.

Condlin continued his punishment of the Cardinals, pulling the Saints within a point, 22-21, before Thomas single-handedly put the kibosh on St. Lawrence's plans to obtain the lead.

Electing to employ the jump shot instead of his high-flying ways, the Brooklyn, N.Y., product banged two tripled and added a mid-range hit for good measure as part of a personal  8-1 run which put the Cardinals up 30-22.

Normally seen in the later stages of games that are well in hand, sophomore Vaughn Dweck sauntered off the bench and played some important first-half minutes for the visitors. The Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., product joined the three-point party with a long-range hit of his own which allowed the Cardinals to head to their locker room with a 33-25 lead at the half. 58-34

Once the second half commenced, fewer than eight minutes were required for the Cardinals before they effectively put things on ice. To begin, Reggie Williams handled the rock on an offensive rebound and canned a layup. That field goal spurred a 25-9 run by the Cardinals through the opening 8:43 of the period.

All in all, six Plattsburgh State players recorded points during the sizable offensive burst. Hodgson hit back-to-back layups – one of which came off of a jazzy pass from McIntosh. Consecutive triples by Mike Mitchell and Correa further drew the ire of the Saints' coaching staff and Alan Siergiej put the finishing touches in the long run with a pair of makes at the foul line. From that point on, the Cardinals' lead would not fall below 17 points.

Williams put forth a well-rounded effort of seven points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Williams' rebounding total was a game-high and was just a portion of a team glass-crashing effort which finished with a 41-25 advantage once the dust had settled.

Condlin finished with a game-high 17 points for the Saints. In the process, he became the 25^th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

After checking in as second fiddle for the past two seasons in the race for the State University of New York Athletic Conference crown, the Cardinals can now turn their full attention to rising to the top of the league mountain once Friday rolls around. Plattsburgh State's 18-game conference slate begins with a home duel against New Paltz. Tip-off in Memorial Hall is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.