Cardinals Bounced from NCAA Tournament by Fitchburg State, 84-81

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team saw its season come to an abrupt end at the hands of Fitchburg State on Friday night as the Falcons took down the No. 23 ranked Cardinals 84-81 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament at Memorial Hall.
 
The Cardinals committed 19 turnovers on Friday, including three crucial blunders in the game's final two minutes and change.
 
Needing a three to tie Fitchburg State at the end of regulation and force overtime, Plattsburgh State had nine seconds to work with coming out of a timeout. The Cardinals unfortunately never got a great attempt as Eli Bryant was forced to put up a prayer from way beyond the arc. The shot was no good and Plattsburgh State would not get another chance to tie as time ran out.
 
After the visiting Falcons registered the first points of the game, the Cardinals quickly took a 3-2 lead thanks to Edward Correa's first of four triples on the evening. Correa was the main reason why Plattsburgh State only trailed one time the rest of the first half as he netted 17 points in shooting 6-of-9 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from three-point range in the opening stanza.
 
While the Cardinals held the advantage for most of the first, their lead never grew over seven points, as Jaleel Bell kept his team right in the mix.
 
Bell exploded in the second half with 19 points, going 7-for-10 and a perfect 2-for-2 from long range. The junior finished with a game-high 30 points and tied for a team-high five rebounds.
 
The end of the first half featured a quick change of momentum as the Falcons blew a chance at taking a lead into halftime by missing a layup with 10 seconds left. Kyle Richardson grabbed the rebound and found Xavier Thomas, who then found Edward Correa for a layup with three seconds left. The Cardinals took a 37-34 lead into the locker room.
 
Plattsburgh State built on its momentum early in the second as it took a double-digit lead for the first time in the game 3 ½ minutes in. Xavier Thomas found Majestic Grigg underneath the basket for an easy layup to make the score 49-38 in favor of the Cardinals. Grigg had his best game of the season on Friday night as he totaled 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
 
At that point, the Falcons began to find themselves and rattled off a 10-2 run to cut their deficit to just three. Plattsburgh State responded with a layup by freshman Ian Howard, but Bell answered right back with one of his two threes in the second half to make it a two-point game at 13:31.
 
After Correa starred with 17 points in the first half, Richardson one upped him with 20 in the second, highlighted by a nifty lay-up while getting fouled to put the Cardinals up 59-51 with 12:50 showing on the clock.
 
The Plattsburgh State offense went cold following that sequence, as the team missed its next four shots as well as a pair of free throws. With just a tick under nine minutes left, an Anthony Muccoli three gave Fitchburg State the lead at 62-61; the Falcons' first lead of the game since the 6:23 mark of the first half. Back-to-back triples from Lance Hill and Jaleel Bell would up the Falcons' lead to 70-65.
 
Fitchburg State got to the foul line 18 times in the second half, and made Plattsburgh State pay by making 15 of those 18 attempts.
 
The Memorial Hall crowed needed something to get them going, and Richardson provided a spark by hitting a three with 4:12 left that got the Cardinals to within four points at 78-74. Following a pair of missed jumpers on the other end, sandwiched by two Richardson free throws, Eli Bryant sunk a triple to give Plattsburgh State a 79-78 lead.
 
From the point on however, the Cardinals shot just 1-for-5 and turned the ball over three times. The Falcons meanwhile went 4-for-5 from the free throw line and got a big layup from Bell with just over a minute left to give them an 82-79 lead.
 
Instead of going for a quick score down by three now with 30 seconds remaining, the Cardinals took over 20 seconds to complete their possession, which culminated with a Richardson layup to make the score 82-81 in favor of Fitchburg State. Plattsburgh State was now forced to immediately foul and hope a few missed free throws would benefit them.
 
Unfortunately, Josh Bosworth made both attempts from the charity stripe make it a three-point game.
 
Instead of fouling Plattsburgh State, Fitchburg State came up with a big defensive stop to close out the game and advance, as the Cardinals never got a great look from three.
 
Both senior Richardson and Correa shined in the final games in Cardinal uniforms. Richardson finished with 26 points to go along with 15 rebounds while Correa totaled 20 points and had six boards.
 
Bell's 30 points led the Falcons, who were also helped out by Lance Hill's 17 points and five rebounds.
 
Fitchburg State advances to the second round and will face Johnson & Wales University, who knocked of Trinity College 75-73 in the first game at Memorial Hall Friday night. Saturday's second round matchup is set for a 7 p.m. start time.
 
The Cardinals close out their season with back-to-back losses and finish with a 21-6 record. The team accomplished much more than anyone expected, and has much to look forward to in 2016-17 despite losing three key players in Kyle Richardson, Edward Correa, and Xavier Thomas.