Box Score PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – A lot of the heavy lifting early on in the Plattsburgh State/Buffalo State men's basketball clash was done by Shavar Fields.

By the time the second half rolled around, the rest of his seniors - as well as the remainder of the team - extended a collective helping hand.

In the final regular season home game of his career, senior Shavar Fields put forth a 26-point effort while fellow senior John Perez contributed an 18-point 13-rebound double-double to the Cardinals' cause as the team outscored an athletic Buffalo State squad 88-73 in Memorial Hall on Saturday afternoon.

The setback was doubly painful for the Bengals (12-13, 8-10 SUNYAC), who were eliminated from postseason contention. Plattsburgh State, meanwhile, improves to 21-4 and finishes the regular season in second place with a 15-3 mark in conference tilts.

A big part of the Cardinals' latest triumph turned out to be free throw shooting. As a team, the Cardinals went 30-of-40 (75 percent) from the charity stripe while the Bengals were only able to drain nine of their 17 (52.9 percent) opportunities from that distance.

Head coach Tom Curle recognized each of the Cardinals' four seniors – Anthony Baker, Fields, Perez and Chris Manning – in a short ceremony prior to the start of the tilt. Buffalo State was the team who came out the strongest, earning a 6-0 edge before Plattsburgh State registered any points.

Sophomore Edward Correa initiated a 9-0 Plattsburgh State surge with his first long ball of the afternoon before Baker received a pretty pass from Fields and tossed in a layup. Fields capped off the surge with the next four points for the home squad.

From that point on, Plattsburgh State would never trail again, but Justin Mitchell made sure his Bengals wouldn't go away quietly. Presenting a matchup problem from the opening tip, Mitchell finished with 17 points and a game-high 18 rebounds in what proved to be his final collegiate outing.

Plattsburgh State's biggest edge of the first frame came when Mike Mitchell knocked down a trifecta which made matters 29-21 with 5:43 remaining in the stanza.

Quite simply, Fields was almost unstoppable during the game. In the first half alone, the Albany, N.Y., product netted 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. No other Plattsburgh State player accounted for more than five points once the initial 20-minute period was in the books.

Only seniors were responsible for the first 13 points netted by the home squad in the final frame. In fact, it was Field who handed the Cardinals their first double-digit lead after he capitalized on one of his field goal attempts in the painted area.

With so many fouls called and free throws being taken, it was difficult for the Cardinals to get out into their up-tempo offense. Chris Thompson and the Bengals used this to their advantage, as Thompson's close-range bank shot trimmed the Plattsburgh State edge to 57-54 nearly midway through the frame.

After showing some early difficulties in circumventing the Bengals' full-court press, the Cardinals finally did soand went on a 7-0 surge which consisted entirely of fast break points to push their edge back to 64-54 with 9:36 to go.

A Maurice Miles layup got the Bengals to within five, 76-71, with 3:57 remaining, but an 8-0 Plattsburgh State run over the next 2:12 would prove to be more than enough of a cushion to close out the win.

Correa (16) and Mitchell (10) also entered double-digit scoring territory for the Cardinals during the win while Bradley Doyley chipped in a team-high 18 for the Bengals.

Brockport, N.Y., will be the destination for the Cardinals as they aim to contend for yet another SUNYAC Championship Tournament crown. On Friday night at 6 p.m., the Cardinals will tangle with the winner of Tuesday's game between SUNY Geneseo and Oneonta State.

Keep checking GoCardinalSports.com throughout the week to get the most up-to-date information regarding the 2013-14 SUNYAC Championship Tournament.