OSWEGO, N.Y. – Even though February 14 is a day when love is traditionally in the air, fans of the mushy stuff probably wouldn't have had much luck finding anything of that nature at Max Ziel Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

By the time the latest chapter of the Plattsburgh State/Oswego State rivalry was in the history books, the Laker faithful certainly weren't blowing the Cardinals any kisses, either.

Led by another impressive performance down low by final-year forward Reggie Williams and helped out by a 17-point outburst by fellow senior Jordan Moody, the Cardinals quieted a raucous Max Ziel Gymnasium and overtook Oswego State 66-59 to regain their spot at the top of the SUNYAC standings.

Heading into the final week of the regular season, Plattsburgh State (16-6, 11-4 SUNYAC) owns a half-game advantage over the Lakers (15-8, 11-5 SUNYAC) for first place.
Williams, who hails from Yonkers, N.Y., manhandled his Oswego State opposition in the post for the second time this season, netting a team-high 19 points and completing his double-double with a game-best 14 rebounds.

Williams' individual rebounding prowess was a microcosm of the Cardinals' team carom control. Plattsburgh State out-rebounded their longtime Route 11 foes by a 43-27 margin and shot 42-percent (21-for-50) from the field to offset 17 turnovers and a game-high 25 points by the Lakers' Brian Sortino.

Driven to avoid an 0-2 mark against their foes in 2014-15, the Lakers engaged their crowd early by opening the game on a 10-1 run which featured scores from three players and five markers from Sortino.

After Plattsburgh State head coach Tom Curle clamored for a timeout, the Cardinals were able to regain their footing in enemy territory. Williams went right to work, scoring six of the first seven points during a 13-1 offensive spree by the Cardinals.

Capping the run from beyond the arc were Ezra Hodgson and Kyle Richardson who each connected on a long ball. Richardson's put the Cardinals in front for the first time, 14-12, with 10:58 left in the first half. The Lakers scored the four points to take their final lead of the night.

A personal 5-0 run by Xavier Thomas over the course of 50 seconds allowed the Cardinals to leap ahead for good as the score read 19-16 Cardinals with 7:37 to go in the frame.

Williams continued to serve as a one-man demolition team for his squad, netting the next six Plattsburgh State points to counter each Oswego Stat offensive hit. Up by just one, 25-24, after a pair of Rashawn Powell free throws, Richardson sparked a 6-1 Plattsburgh State run with a put-back layup and Moody finished off the surge with four straight points.

The Lakers responded with four straight points, but Edward Correa made sure the visitors wouldn't enter the halftime break without a lead of at least five points as the junior banged his only long ball of the game with 11 ticks to go in the half.

Correa's shot energized his squad headed to the last 20-minute frame, and the Cardinals showed off their unrelenting brand of offense by demoralizing the Lakers with a 15-4 run in the first 6:01 of the frame.

Moody laced a pair of downtown buckets while Ezra Hodgson added five markers of his own during the run while pushed Plattsburgh's margin to 49-33.

The Lakers staged a comeback attempt through the remainder of the half, cutting the Cardinals' lead all the way down to 56-51 on a Sortino jumper with 3:20 remaining, but Moody hollered back with another long ball and Mike Mitchell added a pair of free throws to make it a 10-point game with 1:12 to go.

Sortino single-handedly brought the Lakers back within four in the final minute, scoring six points, but the Cardinals went 5-for-8 from the free throw stripe to close things out.
Shamoy McIntosh grabbed 10 rebounds for the Cardinals, too, while Powell was the only other Laker in double figures with 11.

Just three more regular season games separate the Cardinals from the postseason. On Tuesday afternoon, Plattsburgh State will begin its three-game week by making a short excursion to SUNY Potsdam to tangle with the Bears. Game-time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.