By Justin Rushia
In the preseason, head coach Mike Blaine and the Cardinals (1-0) stressed the importance of defense in their scheme.
Plattsburgh stuck to its word and hung tough on the defensive end of the ball. The team finished with nine blocks, eight steals, and 30 defensive rebounds.
The Cards came away with a 70-58 home-opener victory over Skidmore College (0-1) in front of an electric Cardinal crowd last Friday.
“The eagerness of and the intensity of our on-ball defense were going to be important,” Blaine said. “They had a big, physical team, so we couldn’t sit back. We had to dictate the terms. And I think, by and large, we did an excellent job of that.”
This Plattsburgh team boasts one of its strongest rosters in recent years. During the match against the Thoroughbreds, 10 of the 18 players took the court, nine scoring and three achieving double-digit points, including senior guard/forward Ikechukwu Ezike, senior guard Kevin Tabb, and senior guard Franklin Infante.
“I think everybody coach put out there worked well together,” said Franklin Infante, senior guard. “We trust coach and who he decides to put out there. We also trust each other.”
Infante played 34 out of the 40 minutes, more than any other Cardinal. In his time on the court, Infante tallied 11 points, two assists and two steals while committing zero turnovers at the point guard position.
The senior guard also came in clutch for the Cards, hitting a buzzer-beater three that electrified the crowd and sent Plattsburgh up 10 going into halftime.
“We had a fantastic crowd at Memorial (Hall) tonight. The students and the folks in town did a great job coming out and supporting us,” Blaine said.
Plattsburgh only has one listed center on its roster this season — Aidan McGuire, who did not see the court today. In most cases, this might imply that a team with no traditional center lacks interior defense, but this couldn’t be further from the case.
The Cards allowed only 26 points in the paint, which was 44.83% of their total points allowed.
NJCAA transfer Irwayne Connell Jr. played a prominent role in Plattsburgh’s defense, racking up six of the team’s nine blocks by himself. Ezike made up for the remaining blocks, finishing with three.
Ezike led the team in scoring with 15 points and was second on the team in rebounding with eight rebounds.
“Coach did a good job of letting us know who was in the game so we knew who could switch and who couldn’t,” Ezike said. “But that’s all stuff we do in practice. We’ve been raising the bar, and practice is harder than the game, to be honest.”
Plattsburgh’s intensity on defense allowed them to push the ball forward quickly and often in transition, and it finished with 18 fast-break points.
“I think playing Ikechukwu Ezike and Jeremiah Smith together gave us a lot of quickness and athleticism at the wing/forward spots. So it allowed us to put a little bit more heat on the ball and get clean rebounds to get out into transition,” Blaine said.
Love-Smith led the team in rebounds with 10, a quarter of the team’s total rebounds.
Senior guard Kevin Tabb, Plattsburgh’s usual offensive initiator, got into foul trouble early and played only 20 minutes. Tabb averaged 29.8 minutes per game last season. The guard still scored 13 points on an 83.76 true shooting percentage. He also racked up a team-high three steals.
This opened the door for JUCO transfer and former high school teammate of Tabb’s, Kareem Welch, to get many opportunities to initiate the offense. Welch finished with a team-high four assists.
“I think we did a good job adapting to our circumstances,” Blaine said.
Plattsburgh will continue its run of non-conference games to end the season against Norwich tomorrow.
“I was very pleased,” Blaine said. “The guys have been itching for a long time to see some different colored shirts. I think that eagerness showed in our play in a lot of forms and fashion.”
