Box Score Box Score

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – SUNY Plattsburgh lived up to all the hype surrounding its program this year on the first night of State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) competition Friday evening at Memorial Hall, as the Cardinals (5-1, 1-0 SUNYAC) topped the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team (3-2, 0-1 SUNYAC) by a count of 87-73.

Plattsburgh, the defending SUNYAC champion, had little trouble with the Hawks in this league opener for both teams. The Cardinals received major contributions from Chris Ruiz, Errol Daniyan and Carl Munnerlyn, with the trio scoring 18, 22 and 23 points, respectively.

Junior guard Harris Wichard (Merrick, N.Y.) led the Hawks with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Nick Taldi also had a strong game, scoring 16 points and sinking three three-pointers.

Plattsburgh dominated the first half, scoring 49 points and leading by as many as 25 points. With 1:46 remaining in the first half, Daniyan opened up the Cardinals' largest lead of the stanza after making two free-throw shots to put Plattsburgh up 49-24. Daniyan and Ruiz had monster first-half performances, posting 15 and 10 points, respectively, in the first 20 minutes of play.

The Cardinals opened up the second half leading 49-29 and would soon construct its biggest margin of the game. With 18:40 left in the second half, Plattsburgh would proceed to go up by 26 points after Daniyan sunk the second of two free-throw attempts to move the score to 54-29 in favor of the hosts. Over the next eight minutes, New Paltz would cut the lead to 12, trailing 60-48 with 10:49 left. A bevy of Hawks helped fuel the run, as freshman guard Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y.), junior guard Shereef Taylor (Hyde Park, N.Y.), junior guard Jermain Wallace (Spring Valley, N.Y.) and sophomore guard/forward Matt Devine (Manalapan, N.J.) each made contributions.

New Paltz proceeded to go on a 6-0 run with 8:54 left, cutting the advantage to 62-54 after Wichard made a free-throw shot. Plattsburgh recaptured the momentum, however, going on a 10-5 spurt and running the score up to 72-59 with 6:24 left. The Hawks countered Plattsburgh's run with a burst of their own, cutting the Cardinals' lead to nine with a score of 74-65 with 4:16 left. Plattsburgh would continue its solid play and finish strong, outscoring the Hawks, 13-8, down the stretch.

Wichard scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half, as his efforts helped New Paltz stay in the game. Plattsburgh's Munnerlyn also had a strong second half, totaling 15 points.

The Hawks will look to take away the positives from their first conference game and will look to rebound at SUNY Potsdam tomorrow at 4 p.m. in SUNYAC action.