Immediate Release: Friday February 24

Plattsburgh and SUNYIT Advance to the SUNYAC Men’s Basketball Championship Game

 Tip off at 1:00 p.m. at the Utica Memorial Auditorium

UTICA, NY - The Plattsburgh Cardinals and the SUNYIT Wildcats advance to the SUNYAC Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday Feburary 25 at 1:00 p.m at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The sixth seeded Cardinals pulled a 69-65 upset win over the second seeded Oswego Lakers in today’s semifinal match up. The fourth seeded Wildcats came out with an 81-74 upset victory over number one seed Cortland.

In the semifinal game between Plattsburgh and Oswego, sophomore Anthony Williams (Brooklyn/Morgan State University) hit a three pointer with 0:33 remaining in the game to put the Cardinals up by one, 66-65. Williams’ basket would prove to be enough as Plattsburgh held on for the victory. Williams finished the game with 26 points, hitting 10-15 from the floor, 5-9 from three point range. Senior Kris Gibbs-Smith (Rochester/John Marshall) chipped in with 19 points, nine boards and sophomore Travis Gorham (Bridgeport, CT/Post University) added 12 points and nine boards for the Cardinals.

Leading the way for Oswego was senior Ahmad Mims (Syracuse/Cicero North-Syracuse) with 20 points. Junior Mat Burridge (Oswego/Hannibal) posted a double-double with 17 points, 10 boards, as classmate Nick Perioli (Liverpool) dished out eight assists for the Lakers.

In the semifinal matchup between the Red Dragons and the Wildcats, junior Chris Reaves (Syracuse/Herkimer CC) led the way with 24 points, seven boards and five assists. The win for the Wildcats is the best post season performance in the history of the men's basketball program at SUNYIT. Chris Lombard (Bronx/MVCC) added 16 points, Chris Plante (Whitesboro/Whitesboro) scored 13 points and Antione Gilkes (Bronx/MVCC) posted a double-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds.

Junior Rod Headley (Peekskill) led the Red Dragons with 22 points and also grabbed eight rebounds. Frank Ranieri (Cicero/Cicero North Syracuse) scored 14 points, Dave Jutton (Red Hook) added 12 points and Scott Taggart (Sidney Center/Franklin) pulled down 13 rebounds. Cortland erased a 14-point deficit early in the second half to take the lead and only trailed by one with less than a minute left.