PLATTSBURGH — The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team ended its five-game losing streak Tuesday, but not in a way it was hoping to.
The Cardinals jumped out to a nice lead, but had to hang on late against Oneonta in a 67-64 SUNY Athletic Conference victory at Memorial Hall.
Plattsburgh held a 16-point lead at one point in the first half, but the Red Dragons pulled to within eight at the half, 33-25.
The Cardinals again managed to distance themselves against Oneonta, taking their biggest lead of the contest, 48-31, six minutes into the second half.
The Red Dragons, however, kept clawing away at the lead and with 11 seconds remaining cut the lead to two.
Ezra Hodgson made 1-of-2 free throws to give Plattsburgh a three-point lead, and the Cardinals survived two desperation 3-point attempts as time expired.
"One strength that I thought this team had was depth," Plattsburgh coach Tom Curle said. "I guess I was wrong about that.
"When we went to the bench we had a boost for little awhile, but we lose the energy.
"Every kid here has been given a chance. They can't be afraid to make a mistake. The player's minutes are determined by their performance and their energy level."
The Cardinals shot extremely well from the field Tuesday, finishing 23-of-45 from the field. But, they continued to struggle from the foul line, shooting just 17-of-29.
"The free throw line is killing us," Curle said. "It's killing our momentum and killing us emotionally. We made some to win it at the end, but we could have put it away and didn't.
"You have to finish plays and right now the free throw lining is hurting us. We finally shot 29 free throws, but we shot only 59 percent."
The Cardinals received strong games from both John Perez and Shavar Fields.
Perez finished with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting and pulled down six rebounds. Fields also tallied 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Shamoy McIntosh chipped in with eight points and three steals, but was forced to come out of the game when he was poked in the eye late in the second half.
"We had some great individual efforts," Curle said. "It was just a terrible team effort.
"We can't be what I think we can be with an effort like that."
Frankie Kelly, who had two points in the first half, led the way in the Red Dragons' comeback finishing with 16 points, including 10-of-10 from the foul line.
Kevin Donahue chipped in with 11 points for Oneonta while Ryan Clark pulled down eight rebounds.
The Red Dragons held the edge in rebounding, 34-27.
"We have to get better," Curle said. "We are not a top team in this conference by any stretch.
"I fully expect for us to play hard Friday, but when you don't play like that night in and night out it's not an identity."
The Cardinals wrap up their five-game home stand this weekend with games Friday against Buffalo State and Saturday against Fredonia.
"If we can learn from this in a winning effort than it's a blessing," Curle said. "If it's the character of our team than we might be in trouble.
"Hopefully we'll learn from it."
NOTE: Senior point guard Ketema Brooks finished Tuesday's game with six assists and currently stands seven assists shy of breaking Dennis Turner's Plattsburgh State record.
Plattsburgh State 67, Oneonta 64
Oneonta (64)
Kelly 3-10-16, Lee 0-0-0, Sarchioto 2-0-4, Boyden 2-2-6, McLaren 2-0-4, Jones 0-0-0, Donahue 4-2-11, Clark 2-2-6, Skrelji 2-2-6, Slivinsky 1-4-7, Brink 1-0-2, Mager 1-0-2. Totals: 20-21-64.
Plattsburgh State (67)
Brooks 1-1-3, Perez 8-4-20, Williams 0-3-3, Fields 6-7-20, Roh 0-0-0, Mitchell 0-0-0, McIntosh 3-0-8, Tibbs 1-0-2, Moody 2-1-5, Baker 0-0-0, Hodgson 2-1-6, Bruno 0-0-0. Totals: 23-17-67.
3-point goals: Oneonta (3) Donahue 2, Slivinsky. Plattsburgh State (4) Fields, McIntosh 2, Hodgson.
Halftime: Plattsburgh State, 33-25.
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