PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Junior guard
Travis Cox (Brooklyn, N.Y./Frederick Douglass Academy) put forth his best performance yet in a Cardinal uniform, but the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team ultimately fell short of a win on Friday evening at Memorial Hall, dropping a 73-68 decision to SUNY New Paltz in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action.
Cox drained a game- and career-high 31 points and nearly had a triple-double, adding seven rebounds and six assists. He also had three steals and two blocks. Senior guard
Nick DeAngelis (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) contributed 11 points and eight rebounds coming off the bench.
Plattsburgh State falls to 8-16 overall (5-12 SUNYAC) with the loss and faces a must-win game tomorrow when it hosts SUNY Oneonta at 2 p.m. on Senior Day. The Cardinals remain a game back of SUNY Geneseo in the SUNYAC standings for the sixth and final playoff spot. Plattsburgh State will qualify for the SUNYAC Tournament with a win over Oneonta coupled with Geneseo losing to SUNY Cortland. A Cardinal loss or a Knight win, however, will give the final playoff spot to Geneseo. Prior to the start of tomorrow's game, the Cardinals will honor their three seniors: DeAngelis, guard/forward
Jeremy Eisenman (New York, N.Y./NEST+m) and forward
Adam Jaquish (Moriah, N.Y./Morah). New Paltz rises to 6-18 overall (2-15 SUNYAC) with the win and visits SUNY Potsdam tomorrow in its season finale.
The Cardinals led in the early going, as Cox accounted for four of Plattsburgh State's first seven points as the home team took a 7-2 lead. Both teams traded baskets until a Jaquish layup and a trey by junior guard
Matt Bernhard (Voorheesville, N.Y./Voorheesville) extended the Cardinal cushion to 18-13. New Paltz scored seven straight points to take the lead and never trailed from that point forward. The Hawks entered the intermission with a 10-point advantage.
After Cox and Bernhard made back-to-back layups in the opening 2:05 of the second half to trim the gap to six, the Hawks went on an 18-8 run, and sophomore guard/forward Brandon Scott thundered down a dunk on the fast break to put New Paltz up 58-42—its largest lead of the game. Plattsburgh State began to chip away at the deficit, netting six unanswered points on two layups by Cox and a jumper by sophomore guard
Marlon Todd (Bronx, N.Y./Eagle Academy) to pull within seven at 60-53, and a 3-pointer by DeAngelis followed by two free throws by Cox whittled the deficit to four (67-63).
New Paltz built a six-point lead (71-65) with 52 seconds to go on a pair of free throws by junior guard Jake Passaretti before an old-fashioned 3-point play by Cox made it a one-possession game. The Cardinals came up big defensively, forcing a miss from distance before Bernhard grabbed the defensive board to give Plattsburgh State a chance to tie the game with 32 seconds left. Plattsburgh State misfired on a 3-pointer, and New Paltz's senior forward Scott Reisert grabbed the board to force the Cardinals to foul. Passaretti made both shots with 13 seconds left to put the game on ice.
Plattsburgh State kept itself in the game once again with a strong performance from the line, shooting at a 78.9 percent (15-of-19) clip from the stripe. The Cardinals shot 34.3 percent (23-of-67) from the field and 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from distance in addition to forcing the Hawks into 14 turnovers. New Paltz shot 43.5 percent (30-of-69) from the floor and 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from beyond the arc, and the Hawks finished with a 43-41 edge in rebounds. The Hawks forced the Cardinals into 14 giveaways as well.
New Paltz was led by Reisert, who had 21 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal. Passaretti recorded 11 points, while freshman guard R.J. Meyers-Turner drained 10 points coming off the bench.
