Box Score GENESEO, N.Y. – A weekend of stark contrasts came to a less than favorable ending for the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team. After matching basketball wits with a high-powered, run-and-gun No. 15 Brockport Golden Eagles squad on Friday night, a trip to Geneseo to take on the defensive-minded, interior powered Knights.
 
Slow and steady, unfortunately, won the race for the Knights.
 
The offense simply wasn't there for the Cardinals, who shot just 32 percent (16-of-50) from the field and 7-of-31 (22.6 percent) from three-point range in a 60-51 defeat at the hands of SUNY Geneseo at Schrader Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
 
After taking over second place in the SUNYAC on Friday night, the Cardinals slip to third in the 10-team league with a record of 16-4 and 10-3 in conference play. Geneseo takes over the second-place spot with a 16-3 mark which included a 10-2 ledger in SUNYAC tilts.
 
A much slower and more methodical brand of basketball than what was featured on Friday night was in store for the Cardinals. SUNY Geneseo executed their offensive sets by winding the shot clock down before settling for a suitable field goal attempt.
 
A downtown bucket from Matt Curry and a layup from Connor Fedge in the first 1:28 of the tilt put the visitors up 5-0. At no point in the first 20 minutes of action were the Cardinals able to possess an advantage on the scoreboard, but Chris Manning was able to knot matters at five with the first of seven Plattsburgh State long range hits.
 
Despite the fact that a low-scoring affair was clearly on tap, the Knights didn't let that keep them from finding good looks. Of the 25 points they put in during the first half, all but six were scored outside of the painted area or the free throw line.
 
Making matters worse, the Cardinals were having a devil of a time putting points on the visitors side of the scoreboard. Xavier Thomas netted six straight points for the Cardinals and his last layup knotted the tally at 14 with 7:44 to go in the first half.
 
The Knights opened up a five-point edge – their largest of the game up to that point – when James McKenna sprinted down the court for a wide-open layup to make it a 21-16 ballgame before Mike Mitchell began to close the gap.
 
By benefitting from a fortuitous bounce on one of his two long balls, the Milford, N.H., native dropped in the next six points for the visiting squad and trimmed the Geneseo edge to 23-22 with 3:07 to go in the half.
 
Gordon Lyons and Shavar Fields traded layups in the waning moments of the first half before the Cardinals grabbed their first edge of the game early in the second half. Edward Correa won a one-on-one battle with a Geneseo defender and connected on a layup that started a 9-4 run for the Cardinals.
 
Free throws from Fields, a trey from Correa and a wide-open layup from Ezra Hodgson upped the Plattsburgh State advantage to 35-29 before things went south in a hurry.
 
With the majority of the attention focused on shutting down Geneseo's interior game, the Knights' perimeter squadron began to heat up. Fedge and Lyons sank back-to-back layups before Andy Drescher and Thomas Decker began to rain triples down on the Cardinals.
 
Three long balls from Drescher and another from Decker finished off the 16-0 Geneseo run that spanned almost six minutes and left the Cardinals staring at a 45-35 deficit with 10:48 to go.
 
It was Manning who finally righted the Cardinals' ship with another long-range basket which started a 10-2 surge for the visitors. Manning capped off the spurt with two free throw swishes which cut the Knights' lead to 47-45 with 7:01 to go.
Over the next 2:43, the only six points that were scored by the two teams came at the free throw line. Fields put an end to a stretch of over 5:30 without a field goal by either team by hammering down a one-handed slam dunk to bring the Cardinals within two, 51-49, with 2:51 to go.
 
The Knights, though, got the last laugh as Decker and Thomas swished back-to-back triples to give their squad a 57-49 edge with 1:52 to play. Plattsburgh State was able to hit just one shot in that final push, and the Knights went on to secure the win.
 
Aside from Mitchell's team-high 11 points, no Plattsburgh State player had more than eight markers in the game. Lyons led all scorers with 17 points and completed his double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds. Drescher and Fedge finished with 12 each for the Knights.    
 
Plattsburgh State will look to get back on the winning track at home, as four of their final five regular season contests will be decided within the walls of venerable Memorial Hall. On Friday night, the Cardinals welcome SUNYAC opponent SUNY Cortland to the building for an 8 p.m. tussle.