PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Junior forward Erik Salo (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) scored a career-high 26 points and added six rebounds, but the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team fell to SUNY New Paltz, 96-77, in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Hall.
 
Salo shot 9-of-12 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the line, taking over the SUNYAC lead on the year in field goal percentage (.573). First-year guard Kevin Tabb (Brooklyn, N.Y./Thomas Jefferson) netted 20 points, while junior guard Axel Rodriguez (Fajardo, Puerto Rico/New Paltz [N.Y.]) netted 10 points and added six assists.
 
For New Paltz, sophomore guard/forward Solomon Neuhaus buried a game-high 33 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the floor and 7-of-13 shooting from distance, while sophomore guard Rylan Blondo recorded 16 points and sophomore guard Sean St. Lucia dished out 12 assists.
 
The Cardinals shot 42.4 percent (28-of-66) from the field, 35 percent (7-of-20) from 3-point range and 70 percent (14-of-20) from the line, but New Paltz shot slightly better from the field (49.3 percent – 35-of-71) and the charity stripe (80 percent – 16-of-20) while holding a 41-37 advantage in rebounds.
 
Plattsburgh State falls to 1-7 overall (0-3 SUNYAC) with the loss and closes out the fall semester on Wednesday, Dec. 8, when it hosts non-conference Middlebury College at 7:30 p.m. New Paltz rises to 3-3 overall (2-1 SUNYAC) with the win and visits St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) College next on Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m.
 
Salo scored the game's first points 36 seconds into the opening stanza, and the two teams traded points until the Hawks opened up an eight-point lead following a 3-pointer by sophomore forward Lucas Seyoum. The Cardinals countered with seven unanswered, with Tabb nailing a trey and senior guard/forward Sheriff Conteh (Bronx, N.Y./Our Saviour Lutheran) and Salo each making layups to cut the gap to 18-17 with 12:28 left in the opening frame.
 
New Paltz went back up by eight before Plattsburgh State responded with a 12-3 tear, and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Salo staked the Cardinals to a 32-31 advantage midway through the first half. That wound up being the high-water mark for Plattsburgh State, as New Paltz broke the game open with a 20-0 run and took a 55-39 lead into the locker rooms.
 
Plattsburgh State used a 5-0 run midway through the second half to trim the deficit to 14 points, as Conteh registered an old-fashioned 3-point play and Tabb drained a layup to pull within 71-57. The closest the Cardinals came down the stretch occurred when Salo made a layup with 7:43 left to make it a 13-point game, but the Hawks kept making shots in the waning minutes to prevent a Plattsburgh State comeback.