PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Senior guard Reem Welch's (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Thomas Jefferson) big night powered the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team to an 81-74 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win over Morrisville on Friday night in Memorial Hall. Welch notched his second 30-plus point game in a row, finishing the night with a game-high 31 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Mari Johnson (Binghamton, N.Y. / Johnson City) poured in 16 points and eight rebounds, while Jaiden Gladney (Charlestown, W. Va. / Jefferson) tallied 13 points, six assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Both Khalil Screen (Providence, R.I. / Classical) and Irwayne Connell Jr. (Monroe CC / Saint Thomas Aquinas) chipped in seven points, while Screen grabbed 11 rebounds and Connell Jr. 10. On the defensive end, Connell Jr. led all players with a game-high six blocks and Welch and Aidan McGuire (Turin, N.Y. / South Lewis) both collected a steal each.

For the Mustangs, Avion Grainger paced his team with 21 points and nine rebounds, followed by Bruce Wingate with 17 points and nine rebounds. Robert Wiggins finished with 11 points and a game-high five steals in the overall effort.

Plattsburgh State shot 36.5% from the field and 27.3% from three, narrowly outpacing Morrisville's 36.3% overall shooting and 22.6% from beyond the arc. The Cardinals owned the boards with a 60–51 rebounding advantage and turned that into 21 second-chance points, compared to 13 for the Mustangs. Morrisville, however, capitalized more effectively on turnovers, scoring 10 points off miscues while Plattsburgh finished with six.

Consecutive three-pointers from Gladney and Johnson put Plattsburgh up 6-0 early, and the Cardinals took control with a 10-0 surge, pushing their lead to 20-9 with 11:35 remaining. The Mustangs made a run and trimmed the lead to 27-19 before free throws from Connell Jr. pushed the Cardinal lead back to double digits at 29-19 with 6:14 to go. Just as Morrisville cut into the deficit, a 6-0 burst followed by a David McKnight Jr. three-point play gave Plattsburgh its largest lead of the game at 42-27 as the Cardinals took a 42-29 lead into the break.

Morrisville came out of the break strong, scoring first and then fighting back to tie the game at 47 with a layup at the 14:49 mark. The Mustangs briefly took their first lead at 52-50, but back-to-back layups from Welch put Plattsburgh ahead 56-54. It was a back-and-forth battle until the Cardinals took the lead for good thanks to a 9-0 run that made the score 74-66 with 1:54 left. With just over a minute remaining, the Mustangs cut the lead to four, but late free throws from Gladney sealed an 81-74 win for the Cardinals.

With the win, Plattsburgh State rises to 8-4 (5-1 SUNYAC) and next hosts Cortland tomorrow, Jan. 17, for a 4 p.m. tip-off.