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Plattsburgh uses late run to take down Bears

Posted 1/14/12

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - Plattsburgh St. (6-7, 4-3 SUNYAC) outscored Potsdam 32-13 over the final ten minutes to pull out a 71-54 victory. Four Cardinals scored in double figures in a game that was much …

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Plattsburgh uses late run to take down Bears

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PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - Plattsburgh St. (6-7, 4-3 SUNYAC) outscored Potsdam 32-13 over the final ten minutes to pull out a 71-54 victory. Four Cardinals scored in double figures in a game that was much closer than the final score showed as the Bears trailed by just seven points with six minutes remaining.

Sophomore Rob Duquette got the Bears (4-9, 2-5 SUNYAC) started in the first half, scoring the team’s first eight points of the game. Despite Duquette’s hot start, the Cardinals held the lead for the majority of the first half. Potsdam took their first lead of the game at 26-25 thanks to a basket from senior Brad Drysdale. The Cardinals would score the final five points of the half to regain the upper hand, 30-26. Plattsburgh used a balanced effort as nine different players scored, led by seven apiece from Josh Bruno and John Perez. Duquette paced the Bears with a huge 14-point effort while also grabbing six rebounds. Both teams shot 11-for-25 from the field and converted on 50 percent of their free throw attempts. The difference was the Cardinals knocked down three shots from behind the arc while Potsdam went 0-of-3.

The Bears started the second half on a 9-2 run capped by a jumper from sophomore Tony Efese to take a 35-32 lead with 15:09 remaining. From that point, the lead would change five times over the next seven minutes. A Duquette free throw would give Potsdam a 41-39 advantage but the Cardinals countered with a 10-0 run to take the lead with just under seven minutes left. The run coincided with Potsdam’s leading scorer and rebounder, junior Curtis Pierce, going down with an injury to his knee. The Bears tried to battle without Pierce and junior Josh Lambert ended the run with a jumper. On the next possession, Drysdale hit a jumper to cut the lead to 49-45 with 6:17 left. Plattsburgh would then use a 21-2 run to pull away.

“We played well for 30 minutes and then just went through a lull,” said Coach Sherry Dobbs. “We missed some opportunities and they executed better offensively. Rob played really hard and kept us in the game but we didn’t make enough plays.”

Duquette finished the contest with 23 points and nine rebounds to pace Potsdam who shot 39 percent from the field.

The Cardinals finished the game knocking down 44 percent of their shots and going 5-of-15 from behind the arc. Williams finished with a double-double recording 12 points and 11 rebounds while teammates Perez and Shamoy McIntosh each scored 16 points.

The Bears return to action on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when the travel to rival St. Lawrence.