Adam Dudzinski had 21 points to go along with nine rebounds, and a strong second half performance for the St. Lawrence men's basketball team led to a 66-56 win over the Plattsburgh State Cardinals Tuesday night in Plattsburgh, N.Y. 

The Saints improve to 2-1 on the win and 2-0 against non-conference foes for the year. 

"It was nice to get a bounce back win," said Saints head coach Chris Downs after the win. "Our defense executed our game plan well and performed solidly. However, we still have a lot of work to do and will now begin preparation for Geneseo this weekend."

The early part of the game was back-and-forth. The Cardinals got out of a 5-2 lead, but the Saints climbed out in front immediately after with a layup by Gavin Macaulay and a three by Dudzinski.

With just shy of nine minutes remaining, the Saints held a 19-13 lead which was their largest of the night at that point. However, with three minutes remaining, the Cardinals went on a quick 6-0 run to take a 23-22 lead. The teams traded points for the remainder of the quarter, with the Saints ultimately coming out in front with a 28-27 lead.

In the second half, the Saints opened the game back up to two possessions with a 34-29 lead with 15:21 remaining, but the Cardinals were able to go on a run after this and regained the lead 40-38 with 11:32 left to go. Both teams exchanged points for the next few possessions but then Cowan had two free throws to open up a 48-43 lead for the Scarlet and Brown with 6:54 to go.

The Saints continued to hold the momentum, and shortly after, went on an 8-0 run, with five points from Colton Suriano and two points from Gavin Macaulay. This gave them a double-digit lead, 56-45 with just under five minutes left. The Saints used their strong defensive play to hold off Plattsburgh from there until the final buzzer.

Aidan Macaulay and McPherson were the other two double-digit scorers for St. Lawrence with 12 and 10 points respectively. Aidan Macaulay and Dan Anderson each had four steals, and  to go along with six assists to lead the team. The Saints offense shot 40 per cent and held the Cardinals to 35 per cent. 

The Saints will next take on SUNY Geneseo on Saturday, November 22 on the road at 3 p.m.