CARDINALS DOMINATE SECOND HALF,

TOP SAINTS 84-70

Nov. 27: Three members of the St. Lawrence University men’s basketball team scored in the double digits Tuesday night, but it wasn’t enough to lift them past a tough Plattsburgh State team, as the Saints fell to the Cardinals 84-70 in Plattsburgh’s home opener in Memorial Hall.  

 

Junior forward Bela Vonnak led the Saints with 15 points, while senior Tyler Shaver posted 14 and junior Tom Wopperer tallied 12. The Cardinals, who are ranked as the 11 th best Division III basketball program by D3hoops.com, came off the court with their third consecutive win of the season to remain undefeated.  

 

The Saints were first to go up on the scoreboard after Vonnak had a layup that put the Scarlet and Brown up 2-0 with 17:49 on the clock. Sophomore Andy Hoercher would increase the lead to five after a successful shot from beyond the arc. The Saints were able to maintain an edge over Plattsburgh until Cardinal Ricky Rider had a layup that tied the game 7-7 with 14:05 remaining in the period.  

 

Vonnak would put the Saints back ahead after another shot from in the paint and a three-pointer from Shaver, but Plattsburgh’s Khylan Hunt would make it a tied game with 11:49 left. St. Lawrence was able to increase their lead to six after another three from Shaver, but the point gap was quickly filled by a strong Cardinal offense who overtook the Saints with 7:16 on the clock after a three from Hunt.  

 

St. Lawrence tied the game with 20 seconds left in the half at 37-37 after senior Sebastian Kurtz put up a layup, but Plattsburgh would score a three-pointer with three seconds left to walk off the court at half time with a 40-37 edge.  

 

The Cardinals’ Anthony Williams started off the second half with a good three-pointer to give Plattsburgh some momentum, which they were able to carry throughout the remainder of the game, as the Saints were only able to bring their lead down to five with 15:48 left before the Cardinals took control of the rest of the game.  

 

Shaver was key for the Saints off the bench as the Ogdensburg, NY guard tallied all 14 points in only 16 minutes on the court. He also had two rebounds and one steal. Kurtz was perfect from the floor, making both of his field goal attempts.  

 

Plattsburgh ’s Williams had a game-high 26 points for the Cardinals.  

 

St. Lawrence, now 1-3, will look forward to their home opener this season against North Country opponent SUNY Potsdam on Tuesday, December 4 th. The tip-off is set for 7:00pm in Burkman Gymnasium.