PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Freshman center Cameron Ness (Clintondale, N.Y./Highland) played perhaps the best game of his young Cardinal career on Friday night against Fredonia at Memorial Hall, as he scored 16 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked four shots in the Plattsburgh State men's basketball team's 71-65 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win over the Blue Devils.
 
Ness' rebounding total matched a career high, while his four blocks established a career high. It marked Ness' third double-double of the season and his first since scoring 15 points and pulling down 12 rebounds on Nov. 19 against St. Lawrence University.
 
Down 50-42 with 10:43 to go in regulation, the Cardinals received six unanswered points on four free throws by freshman guard Axel Rodriguez (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Paltz) and a jumper by junior guard Travis Cox (Brooklyn, N.Y./Frederick Douglass Academy) to pull within two. After Fredonia's junior guard Dydy Bryan hit a pair of free throws to put the Blue Devils back up by four, Plattsburgh State went on a game-changing 8-0 tear, and a put-back layup that Ness buried off a missed shot in transition gave the Cardinals a 56-52 cushion.
 
The two teams continued to trade points until Plattsburgh State relied on strong free throw shooting to pull away. Rodriguez and Cox each buried both of their free throws on back-to-back possessions to put Plattsburgh State up seven, and senior guard/forward Jeremy Eisenman (New York, N.Y./NEST+m) countered a Fredonia made jumper with a jumper of his own on the Cardinals' next trip down the floor. While the Blue Devils trimmed the gap to four with 19 seconds left on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Marcus Patterson, Cox sealed the victory by making two free throws.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 8-12 overall (5-8 SUNYAC) with the win, keeping pace in the SUNYAC playoff race. The Cardinals, who are currently tied for sixth in the SUNYAC standings with SUNY Geneseo, host Buffalo State tomorrow at 4 p.m. Fredonia falls to 7-13 overall (3-10 SUNYAC) with the loss and visits SUNY Potsdam tomorrow at 4 p.m.
 
The Blue Devils controlled the game early, taking an 11-4 lead through 4:53 of play. Plattsburgh State answered with a 6-0 run, and junior guard Matt Bernhard (Voorheesville, N.Y./Voorheesville) nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing to force Fredonia into its first timeout of the contest. The Blue Devils led by as many as eight points in the first half, but the Cardinals' 9-3 run that ended with a layup by senior guard Nick DeAngelis (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) narrowed the deficit to 25-23. Fredonia led by seven points twice more before two free throws by freshman forward Erik Salo (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) and a DeAngelis trey whittled the gap to 32-30. Fredonia's senior guard Colden George hit a 3-pointer and DeAngelis scored on a fastbreak layup to spell the halftime score of 35-32 in favor of the visitors.
 
While Salo scored on the Cardinals' first possession of the second half to pull Plattsburgh State within one, Fredonia went on a 6-0 tear to take a 41-34 advantage. Neither team was able to hold sustained momentum from that point forward until Plattsburgh State pulled ahead in the latter stages of the second half.
 
Plattsburgh State shot 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the floor and 81 percent (17-of-21) from the line in the victory while holding a slight 44-42 edge in rebounds. Fredonia, meanwhile, was held to 36 percent (27-of-75) shooting from the field and took just six free throws all game. All told, the Cardinals committed just nine personal fouls across the full 40 minutes of action.
 
In addition to Ness, DeAngelis posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, with his rebounding total establishing a career high. Cox scored 13 points and added five assists, while Rodriguez posted 11 points and five assists.
 
For Fredonia, Bryan tallied 14 points, six rebounds and six assists in 29 minutes coming off the bench, while senior guards De'Quan Smith and Tyler Roberts scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.