BUFFALO, N.Y. – There were plenty of points to be had in the Buffalo State Sports Arena on Saturday afternoon, and with some timely runs the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team accumulated just enough of them to board their bus back to Plattsburgh with another conference triumph in tow.
Edward Correa struck for a season-high 23 points and Reggie Williams added a 14-point, 10-rebounds double-double as the Cardinals outscored the Bengals 94-89 to improve to 8-3 and 3-1 in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play.
Correa rattled in six treys and Shamoy McIntosh added 16 points on an 8-for-11 showing at the charity stripe. Jordan Moody accounted for 12 and Xavier Thomas finished with 10 for the Cardinals who shot 54.1-percent (33-for-61) in the 40-minute bout.
Although there were bodies clad in Plattsburgh State uniforms taking up space in the painted area, they didn't feel too much pressure to stop the Bengals inside early on in the SUNYAC tilt. In the opening 4:46, Buffalo State uncorked a 13-2 run with four players getting in on the scoring action.
All but three of the points during the Bengals' opening salvo were racked up with either layups or jumpers in the painted area. Lovell Smith led the charge during that span, pumping in six of his ten first-half markers.
The only Cardinals who registered a point during the Bengals' initial flurry was Ezra Hodgson who tapped in a layup. Other than that, the visitors with 1-for-7 from the field and committed one of their six first-half turnovers.
Fortunately for the visitors, the moneyballs were flowing freely from the hand of junior three-point bomber Edward Correa. The Bronx, N.Y., product put an end to Buffalo State's big run by drilling the first of his three triples off an assist from reigning ECAC DIII Upstate Player of the Week Reggie Williams.
Also spurring the Cardinals' comeback bid was senior Jordan Moody who sauntered onto the court from the bench and dropped in a hotly contested deep two to begin his 10-point half. Mike Mitchell further sliced into the Bengals' advantage when he whipped a hot pass to a sprinting Williams who finished off the fast break with a layup.
Moody called buckets on a pair of corner triples which bookended a layup from Kyle Richardson to finally put the Cardinals on top for the first time, 19-16 with 9:03 left in the first half. With the Cardinals' offense finally humming along, they upped their lead to as many as seven before the first-half horn blared.
A 7-0 run through the final 1:20 of action in the first half allowed the Cardinals to grab that lead. Layups from Moody and Williams as well as a trio of free throws from Correa permitted Plattsburgh to enter their locker room with a lead.
All the Cardinals did with their lead in the early stages of the second half was increase it. Of the 14 points netted in the first 4:36 of the final movement, Plattsburgh State slung in 10 of them. Shamoy McIntosh struck for four during that span before Mike Mitchell finished off the surge with a layup to make it 51-38.
No lead, though, was safe for the Cardinals thanks to the hot-shooting ways of Chris Cartwright and Jordan Glover. The pair of long-rangers bombers pulled the Bengals back into it with Cartwright taking center stage first.
The diminutive guard quickly cut the Cardinals' lead down to seven by burying back-to-back long balls before he dished to Glover who canned yet another trey to extend the Bengals' run to 9-0. A layup from Moody calmed the Bengals down for a moment, but four more free throw makes by the home team and a fast break layup from Cartwright knotted things at 55 with 10:35 remaining.
After Xavier Thomas worked his way through the Bengals' interior defense for a layup, Glover continued his hot stretch by adding an additional pair of triples to his game ledger, giving his squad a 61-57 lead in the process.
The Cardinals, though, got the last laugh as they erupted for 13 straight points over the next 2:52. Instigating the game-changing surge was junior Kyle Richardson who, after a layup from McIntosh splashed a three-ball from the left wing and hammered down a big-time jam to take the wind out of the Bengals' sails.
With Correa stationed downtown, the Cardinals still had their long-range wild card in play. Another three-pointer from the junior followed by a fast-break rim-rocker by Thomas helped Plattsburgh State finish off their run and regain the lead for good.
Leading 70-61 with 5:59 remaining, the Cardinals never really put a substantial amount of distance between them and the home team. Every time the Bengals managed to put a dent in their deficit, though, the Cardinals responded.
Correa and Thomas were the primary point-producers for the Cardinals through the home stretch with the former victimizing the Bengals with another pair of downtown hits and the latter adding two layups and a dunk to keep the Cardinals ahead 83-76 with 2:28 to go.
The Bengals whittled their deficit down to just three with 34 ticks left, but the Cardinals went 5-for-6 at the foul line to close things out.
Glover accumulated a game-high 25 points on 7-for-11 shooting from long range while Cartwright pumped in 24 of his own. Buffalo State held a 41-37 rebounding edge over the Cardinals.
With its SUNYAC road trip of the regular season in the books, the Cardinals will make a return to Memorial Hall to host a pair of upper-echelon conference opponents. On Friday night at 5:30, Plattsburgh State will cross paths with the only undefeated team left in the 10-team conference when longtime rival Oswego State makes the trip north.
