PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – For too long, the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team has been forced to either be on the road for the SUNYAC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament or sit it out altogether.

Prior to Friday night, five years had passed since conference tournament basketball had been played in Memorial Hall. Add to that a Cardinals' squad that has come up short in two consecutive SUNYAC Championship games and that makes for one volatile environment for a group of visitors.

The College at Brockport found that out firsthand.

A game-high 19 points from Jordan Moody fueled the No. 1 seed Cardinals (19-7) on the offensive end and the home team made sure the Golden Eagles didn't live long or prosper by employing a suffocating defensive effort to roll to a 71-50 triumph in the 2015 SUNYAC Men's Basketball Tournament semifinals.

For just the second time this season, the Cardinals held an opponent to south of a 30-percent shooting night from the field as Brockport connected on just 17-for-47 (29.8-percent) of its shots.

Although the shots may not have been dropping at the rate they were accustomed to (20-for-55, 36.4-percent field goal shooting), the Cardinals more than made up for it with a 26-for-32 (81.3-percent) effort at the foul line.

Kyle Richardson added 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds off the bench while Reggie Williams chipped in 10 points, six boards, two assists and a rejection for the home team who now turns its attention to No. 3 seeded Oswego State which bested No. 2 seeded SUNY Geneseo 72-61 in the first semifinal game of the night. The SUNYAC Tournament title tilt will tip-off at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals never trailed in the one-sided affair, as Moody got the scoring started by slipping a three-point ball through the rim off the first of Mike Mitchell's game-high eight assists with just 22 seconds gone from the game.

Early on, it appeared as though the cost of admission was plenty affordable for those individuals who salivated at the thought of a defensive brand of basketball. Moody accumulated the Cardinals' first seven points of the game while a trio of Brockport scorers accounted for its initial seven markers.

With the score knotted at seven-all 7:42 into the bout, the Cardinals decided to increase the offensive temperature and let the simmering partisan congregation occupying Memorial Hall boil over. With 11:32 to go in the initial stanza, the Cardinals used the next 5:12 to embark on a 13-0 run which, by and large, crushed the spirit of the Golden Eagles.

Xavier Thomas got things going with a pair of swishes at the foul line and from there four other Cardinals received their invitations to the offensive party and recorded at least two points. Ezra Hodgson was the high-point man during the scoring surge, netting four.

Ahead 20-7, the Cardinals had a sufficient enough cushion to never feel overly threatened by the Golden Eagles ever again. Hamed Shamseldin, who finished his season with a performance that featured a team-high 16 points, buried a pair of free throws to trim his squads' deficit to 26-16 with 91 ticks to go in the first half, but Edward Correa responded by splashing a downtown moneyball  to push the Cardinals' lead right back to 13.

In the deciding frame, Clifton Lyerly pulled Brockport within nine, 31-22, with a splash from long range, but Shamoy McIntosh squished any momentum the Golden Eagles had gathered with a deep ball of his own which sparked a 10-0 Plattsburgh State surge and put the home team on top by 19, 41-22, with 13 minutes remaining.

Continuing their onslaught, the Cardinals saw their lead grow to as many as 27 points (71-44) before stopping their pummeling of Brockport. McIntosh drilled two free throws with 3:06 remaining to account for that 27-point margin.

Patrick Modzelewski added 12 points for Brockport. In the rebounding department, Plattsburgh State held a 45-35 edge over its SUNYAC rivals and allowed the Golden Eagles to take just 13 shots from the charity line.