PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – After trailing by 11 with a little over a minute remaining, the Plattsburgh State men's basketball rallied late but fell just short, dropping a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest to Morrisville 86-80. Junior guard Kareem Welch (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) led the Cardinal offense with 16 points to go with five assists and three rebounds.

Senior guard/forward Ikechukwu Ezike (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Paul Robeson) had a strong performance for Plattsburgh with 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Franklin Infante (East Rockaway, N.Y. / East Rockaway) reached double figures with 10 points to go with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals while Sasha Vidrini (Trieste, Italy / Liceo Rogazionisti) had a solid performance with eight points, five assists, two rebounds, and a block. Nate Pondexter Jr. (Washington, D.C. / Archbishop Carroll) and Damari Johnson (Binghamton, N.Y. / Johnson City) both recorded seven points while Pondexter Jr. had three rebounds, two steals, and an assist and Johnson had four rebounds and two steals.

For the Mustangs, Kareem Sanders led all players in scoring with 21 points while Jacob Works and Yvan Fils-Aime both had 17 points. Fils-Aime led his team in rebounding with 10 for a double-double and Avion Grainger led all players in assists with six to go with his 11-point performance.

The Cardinals shot a solid 40.3% from the field while the Mustangs shot an efficient 51.7% from the field. The Mustangs shot better from behind the arc as well, shooting 34.8% compared to the Cardinals' 26.1%. Both teams made 16 free throws with the Cardinals shooting 66.7% making 16 of 24 and the Mustangs 64.0% making 16 of 25. Morrisville won the battle on the boards 42-39 but the Cardinals had more second-chance points with 15 while the Mustangs had 13. Despite the Cardinals forcing six more turnovers than the Mustangs both teams recorded 15 points off turnovers.

Plattsburgh State falls to 10-9 (7-5 SUNYAC) and is back in action on Friday, Feb. 7 when they travel to New Paltz for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. Morrisville moves to 10-8 (6-5 SUNYAC) and is back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 4 when they host Buffalo State at 7:30 p.m.

The start of the first half was back and forth until a three-pointer from Works gave Morrisville a 9-6 lead at the 16:18 mark. It wasn't until midway through the half that the Cardinals regained the lead when two free throws from Infante followed by a layup from Pondexter Jr. put the Cardinals back ahead 20-19 at the 8:02 mark. The Mustangs responded with a 7-0 run and took a 26-20 lead at the 5:59 mark, however, the Cardinals had a strong finish to the half outscoring Morrisville 7-2 which made the score 38-36 Mustangs at halftime.

After trading baskets multiple times made the score 47-41 at the 15:22 mark, the Cardinals finally went on a run with a three-pointer from Vidrini and a layup from Tabb that made the score 47-46 Mustangs at the 13:55 mark. The Mustangs countered the Cardinals' run with a 6-0 run that pushed their lead to 55-48 at the 11:47 mark. Back-to-back layups from Infante and Vidrini seemed to give Plattsburgh some momentum bringing them within one but a layup from Sanders followed by a three-pointer from Sanders as well cushioned the Mustangs lead to 68-62 at the 3:02 mark. With less than a minute remaining Plattsburgh trailed by 11 and cut the lead to as low as four but despite the late rally, the Cardinals came up short falling 86-80.