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By RYAN HAYNER
PLATTSBURGH — Fifty-two points by halftime?
Shooting 75 percent from the free-throw line?
Five players scoring double figures?
If just for one day, the new and improved up-tempo Cardinals showed a lot of promise.
A 20-point lead built early in the second half never fell into single digits, and the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team defeated Lyndon State, 103-81, Sunday at Memorial Hall in its season debut.
Steve Thomas scored a game-high 24 points in his first game wearing red and white. The Plattsburgh native and former Clinton Community College standout showed off his athleticism and scoring touch, helping the Cardinals (1-0) pile more points in the season opener than any game last year.
"He's just a great addition to the team, he can do so much," teammate Chris Ruiz said of Thomas. "He's so athletic that you can build around that with so many dimensions."
New additions to the team and key departures brought a new style to the Cardinals. After losing height and gaining more speed with players like Thomas and Carl Munnerlyn, Plattsburgh State became a more fast-paced, running team. It was effective against Lyndon State.
Thomas opened up the second half scoring eight of the Cardinals first 11 points. When Ruiz hit a 3-pointer and knocked down a free throw to make it 67-49, Plattsburgh State matched its 2008-09 game scoring average with 12 minutes to spare.
The Cardinals' 52 first-half points eclipsed any half total last season, as well. Plattsburgh State scored only 57 points in the final game of the 2008-09 season.
"We got players who came in ready to play, ready to put the ball in the net," said Ruiz, who scored 16.
The Hornets cut the deficit down to 10 on a layup by Jason Gray and a 3-point play from Jose Fortunato eight minutes into the second half.
The Cardinals responded with a 17-8 run over the next six minutes. In that span, Munnerlyn and Thomas each scored four, while four other players tallied at least two.
Lyndon State never got closer than 15 from that point. Cardinal reserves, led by Josh Bruno, pushed the lead to 22 in the final minute.
"We have to set an emotional tone that nothing will be easy when you play us," Plattsburgh State coach Tom Curle said.
Bruno finished with 10 points, all in the second half. Also scoring in double figures were Errol Daniyan (13) and Munnerlyn (13). The Cardinals didn't have five players in double figures once last year — although they had four players score more than 10 five times.
Part of the reason for the offensive boost was shaking off a problem that plagued the Cardinals all last year — free throws. Plattsburgh State shot a dismal 55.3 percent from the stripe, second to last among 392 Division III programs. Only SUNYAC opponent SUNY Cortland shot worse.
But against Lyndon State (0-1), the Cardinals connected on their first six from the line and went 13-for-15 in the first half. Daniyan, a career 46 percent free throw shooter, connected on 5-of-6.
Ruiz said Daniyan promised him over the summer that he was going to hit at least 70 percent or more from the line.
"He really has taken it to himself to knock down those free throws and prove everyone wrong," Ruiz said.
But while Curle was happy about his team's free throw shooting, he was not pleased at how often his team sent the Hornets to the line. Lyndon State attempted 37 free throws, 24 in the second half. The Hornets connected on 65 percent of them.
"We tried to strip people, we tried to knock the ball away, and the bad part is if you look at the majority of our fouls, most of them were 40 feet from the basket," Curle said. "We're fouling people that aren't even getting to the rim."
The statistics in this story are unofficial. Official first-half statistics were not available because of technological issues.
E-mail Ryan Hayner at: rhayner@pressrepublican.com
