PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Exactly six years ago to the day, Plattsburgh State head men's basketball coach Tom Curle found himself engaged in a nail-biter at home against Brockport with his 100^th win as the Cardinals' bench boss at stake.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, Curle and his crew had pulled the carpet out from under the Golden Eagles, sneaking out a 99-92 overtime victory.

For Curle's 200^th Plattsburgh State win, there wasn't nearly as much drama involved.  

Ezra Hodgson pumped in a game-best 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting while Jordan Moody and Xavier Thomas added 15 and 13 respectively as the Cardinals (5-1, 1-0 SUNYAC) romped to an 81-69 triumph over New Paltz (1-5, 0-1 SUNYAC) in the SUNYAC opener for both teams in Memorial Hall on Friday night.

 Plattsburgh State brought the thunder early by opening the one-sided affair on a 20-2 run and allowed the Hawks to sink just eight of their 30 field goal attempts (26.7-percent) in the opening 20 minutes. As well as their heightened defensive intensity, the Cardinals continued their blazing shooting ways by drilling 42.3-percent (30-of-71) of their field goals which included a 10-of-25 (40-percent) touch from deep.

Making their home debut, the Cardinals started things off by turning to Hodgson who began the home team's sizable scoring surge with his first long ball of the night 1:02 into the fray.

A quintet of Plattsburgh State student-athletes amassed points through the course of the opening shelling. Fleet-footed big man Reggie Williams registered six in the run while Kyle Richardson and Edward Correa each called buckets on a long-range bomb.

Moody added an and-one play and Hodgson's mid-range jumper accounted for the other two markers in the first 9:10.

New Paltz's sole bucket came off the mitts of Taylor Sowah who struck for a layup off an assist from reigning SUNYAC Player of the Week R.J. Rosa.

Desperately searching for any kind of offense, the Hawks finally received some from Rosa. After falling behind by 19 points, Rosa attempted a spirited comeback all by his lonesome. The junior banged three consecutive triples to trim the Cardinals' edge to 12 points.

Wanting to dispel the Hawks' antics, Mike Mitchell did just that by dishing out one of his game-high seven assists. The final-year man out of Milford, N.H., located the high-flying Thomas and sent a lob pass toward the Brooklyn, N.Y., native. Thomas dropped the hammer with a powerful two-handed jam to bring Memorial Hall to its feet and demoralize the Hawks.

The jam put the Cardinals' advantage back to 14, 40-26, with 2:06 to go in the half. In the final 20 minutes of action, Plattsburgh State enhanced its lead to as many as 22 points and didn't let the Hawks get closer than 12 away.

Rosa and Eric Regenbogen each finished with 13 points for the Hawks while Sowah added 11 and a team-best eight boards.

Williams' stat line was perhaps the most impressive for the Cardinals. The senior grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with nine points, three assists, three blocked shots and a pair of steals.

In their final home action of the 2014 calendar year, Plattsburgh State will look to enter winter break with a 2-0 SUNYAC record in tow. In a battle of 1-0 SUNYAC squads, the Cardinals will cross paths with Oneonta State in Memorial Hall at 2 p.m. on Saturday.