ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team had five of its six student-athletes who scored establish career-high totals, as the Cardinals battled from start to finish in a 95-84 loss to Farmingdale State College on Friday night in their season opener at the Hartwick Basketball Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Hartwick College. It marked the first regular-season game on the sidelines for first-year head coach Mike Blaine.
 
Junior guard Travis Cox (Brooklyn, N.Y./Frederick Douglass Academy) led the way with a career-high 25 points, followed by freshman center Cameron Ness' (Clintondale, N.Y./Highland) 19-point, 10-rebound effort in his collegiate debut. Senior guard Nick DeAngelis (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) tallied 19 points in 27 minutes coming off the bench, while senior guard/forward Jeremy Eisenman (New York, N.Y./NEST+m) drained a career-high 11 points thanks largely to 3-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. Freshman guards Axel Rodriguez (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Paltz) and Jalen Marshall (Fairmont, W.V./East Fairmont) recorded six and four points, respectively, in their first-ever collegiate game. Beyond his scoring numbers, Rodriguez dished out four assists without committing a single turnover.
 
Farmingdale State's senior forward Hunter Schenkel paced the attack with 28 points, while senior guard/forward Troy Feeney and freshman guard Corey Powell added 15 and 13, respectively. Powell's total came in 20 minutes coming off the bench. Senior guard Anthony Miller Jr. kept the offense running with eight assists.
 
The Cardinals shot 42.4 percent (28-of-66) from the field, including a 45.8 percent (11-of-24) clip from 3-point distance. The Rams finished with a 49-38 edge in rebounds, while both teams committed 14 turnovers.
 
Plattsburgh State falls to 0-1 with the loss, while Farmingdale State rises to 2-0 with the victory. The Cardinals will square off with The City College of New York in the consolation game tomorrow at 2 p.m.
 
Farmingdale State started out hot, going on a 13-1 run early in the first half to stake itself to a 20-6 lead. Down by as many as 16 in the opening stanza, Plattsburgh State went on a nine-point tear, and a jumper by Cox cut the gap to 32-25. An 8-0 Cardinal run that was capped off by an old-fashioned 3-point play by Cox pulled Plattsburgh State within 40-38, and the two teams traded runs before the Rams wound up bringing a 47-45 lead into the locker rooms.
 
The momentum see-sawed back and forth for much of the second half, with the high-water mark for Plattsburgh State coming when Eisenman drained a 3-pointer with 8:50 left in regulation to make it a two-point game (73-71). While Farmingdale State opened up a nine-point lead with 4:09 to go, the Cardinals countered with a 3-pointer by DeAngelis and made free throws by Rodriguez and Ness to pull within 86-82 with 2:06 remaining. The Cardinals were unable to get any closer than four points of the Rams, as Farmingdale State was perfect from the line in the final minute of play.