PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – First-year guard Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y./Thomas Jefferson) scored a career-high 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor, 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range and 4-of-4 shooting from the line, but the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team fell, 88-82, to SUNY Oneonta in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Friday evening at Memorial Hall.
 
Senior guard/forward Sheriff Conteh (Bronx, N.Y./Our Saviour Lutheran) netted a career-high 18 points in 28 minutes coming off the bench, while junior center Cameron Ness (Clintondale, N.Y./Highland) and junior guard Axel Rodriguez (Fajardo, Puerto Rico/New Paltz [N.Y.]) scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. Junior forward Erik Salo (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) grabbed 10 boards, while Ness and Rodriguez registered six assists and three blocks, respectively.
 
The Cardinals were lights out shooting the ball, going 48.4 percent (30-of-62) from the field, 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from beyond the arc and 80 percent (12-of-15) from the line, but the Red Dragons won the game on the glass, holding a 42-31 advantage in rebounds. Plattsburgh State also turned the ball over 24 times, netting 22 points off those turnovers.
 
Plattsburgh State slips to 1-6 overall (0-2 SUNYAC) with the loss and next hosts SUNY New Paltz tomorrow at 4 p.m. Oneonta rises to 5-2 overall (1-1 SUNYAC) with the win and visits SUNY Potsdam tomorrow at 4 p.m.
 
Oneonta had the upper hand in the opening five minutes of play, jumping out to a 17-2 lead. Plattsburgh State proceed to fire on all cylinders, scoring 17 unanswered points in less than four minutes, and Salo capped off the spurt with a layup midway through the first half that gave the Cardinals a 19-17 lead. The two sides battled back and forth, and a 5-1 run that included a pair of free throws by Rodriguez and a 3-pointer by Tabb handed Plattsburgh State a 34-28 advantage, its largest of the game. The Red Dragons scored seven straight points to retake the lead at 35-34, and while sophomore guard/forward Justin Blanchett (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) knocked down a jumper to give the Cardinals a 36-35 cushion, Oneonta closed the half on a 7-1 spurt to take a 42-37 lead into the locker rooms.
 
Tabb scored on a layup on the Cardinals' first possession of the second half, but Oneonta scored four straight points to take a seven-point advantage. The momentum seesawed until a 9-0 Cardinal scoring spree, which Conteh capped off with a pair of free throws, turned the tables and gave the home team a 58-55 lead. Oneonta eventually took the lead back midway through the second half with five straight points, and the visitors never trailed from that point forward, leading by as many as 11 points. The Cardinals pulled within five points three times down the stretch but were unable to get any closer.
 
Oneonta placed five players in double figures, led by junior guard/forward Dylan Trombley's 19 points. Senior guard/forward Daniel Derice notched 18 points, while sophomore guard/forward Frankie Williams poured in 16. Junior guard/forward Michael Ortale Jr. and senior forward Taylor Mason each netted 13 points, with Mason's coming in 22 minutes of reserve action. Derice completed the double-double with 12 rebounds.