PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.—The 17th-ranked Plattsburgh State Cardinals (10-2, 4-1 SUNYAC) needed a last second 3-pointer to escape the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (6-6, 2-3) with a 79-76 win on Tuesday evening. Senior guard Dante Langley (Schuylerville, N.Y./Schuylerville) led the Bears with 16 points and fellow senior guard Nosa Onabor (Brooklyn, N.Y./Northside Charter) scored 14. Junior guard Aaron Armstrong (Lisbon, N.Y./Madrid-Waddington) added 11 and senior forward Serigne Kane (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Prep) and junior guard Danny Delsol-Lowry (Queens, N.Y./Queens H.S. of Teaching) chipped in 10 apiece.
 
The first 9:50 of the first half saw the teams exchange leads multiple times, but never separate themselves by more than three points. Trailing 16-13 at 10:10, sophomore guard Colby Simpson (Queens, N.Y./Queens H.S. of Teaching) sank a layup and junior center Kristoff Saunders (Queens, N.Y./Queens H.S. of Teaching) added another layup and two free throws to complete a 6-0 run and give Potsdam a 19-16 advantage at 9:33. However, the Cardinals closed the half with a 22-7 run and took a 38-27 lead into the locker room.
 
Two early threes from Plattsburgh's Brandon Johnson and Jonathan Patron extended the lead to 46-30 with 17:14 left. The Bears started to chip away over the next seven minutes, but didn't really catch fire until a layup from sophomore forward Dante Viskovich (Massena, N.Y./Massena) at 9:13 that ignited an 16-2 run over the next 4:03. Onabor led the charge with five points during the stretch, while Viscovich and Armstrong each had four points. When the dust settled Potsdam led 67-64 with 5:10 to play. The Bears kept just ahead of the Cardinals for the next three minutes. Langley added a layup to make it 74-71 Bears with 1:49 left. Potsdam couldn't shake the Cardinals. Chris Middleton tied the game with a three 11 seconds later and Ian Howard put Plattsburgh up 76-74 with 41 seconds remaining. Langley countered a final time with another layup with 24 ticks left, but Johnson drained a three as time expired to give the Cardinals the three-point win.
 
Middleton had a game-high 17 points for Plattsburgh. Johnson and Patron each had 15 and Howard finished with 12.
 
The Bears look to bounce back when they host Buffalo State at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night in Jerry Welsh Gymnasium.