Cardinal Points

Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Andrei Popovici Vlad Senior forward Travis Gorham goes up against St. Lawrence junior forward Bela Vonnak during a game at Memorial Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 27.

The Plattsburgh State men's basketball team started the season out exactly the way they wanted the past two weeks. The Cardinals head into the weekend 3-0, winning the Panther Classic Tournament Championship in Old Westbury the weekend before Thanksgiving break and the season home opener against St. Lawrence on Tuesday.

The Cardinals defeated Greensboro in the first round of the Panther Classic Tournament held in Old Westbury 92-59. They went on to win the championship game 77-65 against Old Westbury.

"We played great last week," senior Ricky Rider said. "All our players shot well and we played really well as a team."

The big star of both games by far was senior Anthony Williams who shot 27 point game highs in each game he played, earning him the tournament MVP. Senior Antwane Miller was named to the All- Classic Team along with Williams as he went on to score a combined 31 points in the tournament.

The Cardinals then took on St. Lawrence Tuesday night at Memorial Hall for their home opener in front of a packed crowd. The Cards entered the season ranked 16th by D3Hoops.com and came into the game ranked 11th, their highest ever ranking by D3Hoops.com.

The win gave the Cards their third victory of the season and Williams another game high in points, 26. Williams leads the Cardinals with 80 points this season, and his 27 points per game ties him with Brockport junior Mychal Wilkes for the SUNYAC lead.

"It was our first home game of the year," Williams said. "We were a little over-excited at first but we picked it up in the second half."

The Cardinals allowed the Saints to put up 37 points in the first half but they began to heat up the defense in the second, holding St. Lawrence to just 23.

"We were definitely over-excited," Miller said. "We have to pick it up on the defense but it was really good start for us."

Senior Kyhlan Hunt added 18 points while senior Travis Gorham took care of most of the defensive part of the game, recovering 14 rebounds and five steals, both game highs.

"We started to get more comfortable and started hitting our shots," Head Coach Tom Curle said. "They shot 38 percent and we shot 53 percent."

Continued...

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