News Release

BROCKPORT, N.Y. -- — Anthony Williams led a balanced Plattsburgh State attack with 22 points, and he added five rebounds, two assists and two steals, to help the No. 6-seeded Cardinals to an 88-86 victory Tuesday over No. 3 Brockport State in the quarterfinals of the State University of New York Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. Plattsburgh stunned the Tuttle North Gymnasium crowd by darting to first-half leads of 10-0 and 37-14 before having to withstand a furious comeback by the Golden Eagles in the second.

The Cardinals (16-10) will face the Oswego/Geneseo winner in the SUNYAC semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday at the War Memorial Auditorium in Utica, N.Y. Brockport ended its season at 14-12.

Also scoring in double figures for the Cardinals: Kris Gibbs-Smith with 19 points, Ricky Rider 15, and Brian Hatch and Antwane Miller, 12 each. Gibbs-Smith also dished six assists and Travis Gorham pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.

Plattsburgh jumped out to the early big leads thanks to some hot field-goal shooting, finishing the first half 14 for 24 for 58.3 percent and leading 42-27. The Cardinals were 56.3 percent (27-48) for the game.

But the hosts didn't go away and chipped away by employing a full-court press along with some timely long-range shooting. Ben Bellucci scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to fuel the comeback. Kenny Amparo notched 15 points and Dan Rubertone had 14.

Plattsburgh, which led wire-to-wire, made 6-of-7 free throws with less than a minute remaining to seal the win.