CHICOPEE, Mass. — The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team got outhustled Wednesday night.
A strong Elms College team, playing its first game of the season, recorded an 86-72 win over the Cardinals in nonconference play.
"They beat us in a lot of the hustle stats," said Plattsburgh State head coach Tom Curle. "It wasn't that we didn't play hard, but they played harder with more hustle.
"They are very athletic and very good. We knew this was going to be a tough game, and we were hoping that we could have competed better. It wasn't as close as the score."
Turnovers and 3-point shooting hurt the Cardinals (1-1).
Plattsburgh State turned the ball over 24 times as opposed to Elms' 16 giveaways, and the Cardinals went 1-for-13 from the 3-point line while the Blazers were 8-of-14.
"They really get in your face and force you to turn the ball over," Curle said. "They will foul you at times because of that and we did hit our free throws (21-of-27).
"The big number was the turnovers, and that was from our point guards. Our turnovers were the direct result of them taking the ball from us, or us forcing the ball when nothing was there. The assist-to-turnover ratio was in their favor and we had trouble moving the ball against them.
"There was also a huge difference in 3-pointers. We didn't do a good job recognizing their shooters and many of their 3-pointers came on wide-open shots."
Steve Thomas and Errol Daniyan led the Cardinals with 16 points each and were the only Plattsburgh State players in double figures. Thomas pulled down 11 rebounds and Daniyan had eight. R.J. Ponesse added eight points on 3-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from the foul line.
"There were some bright spots for us," Curle said. "Thomas and Daniyan played well. Ponesse also played well, but we need to get a few more rebounds from him.
"But what bothered me the most was that we weren't able to move the ball in our halfcourt offense."
Juan Maldonado paced the Blazers with 18 points, while Bryant Corcoran and Javon Mathis followed with 17 each and Brittain Purcelle, 11. Maldonado and Corcoran each hit three 3-pointers.
Elms, which took a 45-35 lead at the half, held a 44-40 rebounding advantage, and both teams shot 44.6 percent from the field.
Plattsburgh State will host the Cardinal Classic this weekend at Memorial Hall.
Elms 86, Plattsburgh State 72
Plattsburgh State (72)
Thomas 5-6-16, Daniyan 5-6-16, Brooks 0-0-0, Ruiz 3-2-8, Tangney 2-0-5, Havens 0-0-0, Munnerlyn 4-1-9, McCarthy 0-0-0, Poirier 0-0-0, Roh 0-0-0, Torres 1-0-2, Bruno 2-4-8, Ponesse 3-2-8. Totals: 25-21-72.
Elms College (86)
Maldonado 7-1-18, Corcoran 7-0-17, Martinez 1-0-2, Purcelle 5-1-11, Mathis 8-1-17, Samuels 0-0-0, Avant 2-0-5, French 1-1-3, Walker 0-0-0, Alverio 0-0-0, Hargrove 4-0-9, Hartmann 0-0-0, Holder 2-0-4, Silvia 0-0-0, Griffin 0-0-0, Hulum 0-0-0. Totals: 37-4-86.
3-point goals: Plattsburgh State (1) Tangney. Elms College (8) Maldonado 3; Corcoran 3; Avant, Hargrove.
Halftime: Elms College 45-35.
