PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Junior Jack Plesser tied for the game-high with 33 points and Union College's starters combined for 75 of the team's 80 points as the Garnet Chargers pulled out an 80-73 win over Plattsburgh State in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Hall Gymnasium.
 
Plesser hit 15-of-24 shots from the field to go with six rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the win for Union (3-1). Senior Christian Dufort had a big double-double with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while junior Tanner Tedesco just missed one of his own with 13 points and nine assists and classmate Matthew Garside chipped in 13 points of his own.
 
Reem Welch scored 33 points off the bench to lead Plattsburgh (2-2) and was joined in double figures by David McKnight Jr. with 10 points.
 
The Garnet Chargers took control of the game with a hot-shooting first half, connecting on 19-of-33 attempts (57.6 percent) from the field and 6-of-11 shots (54.5 percent) from long range. Dufort hit a three to put Union up 7-4 with 3:24 gone by in the game and the visitors never trailed from there, eventually building its lead up to as many as 20 after a Dufort bucket with 3:55 to go. Plesser had exactly half of the team's 46 points in the opening 20 minutes, as the visitors took a 46-30 lead into intermission.
 
Union maintained its double-digit edge for the first 11 minutes of the second half, as a free throw by sophomore Scott Schmitt put the team up by a 66-55 margin with 8:52 on the clock. The Cardinals lowered the deficit to six just over a minute later, but a layup by Tedesco and a Plesser three-point play grew the lead back to 11 with 5:50 remaining. Up by five with just over a minute left, Garside hit a key bucket to increase the lead to seven, and Plesser hit a jumper with 21 ticks left before five Tedesco free throws sealed the win.
 
Despite 36.3 percent shooting in the second half, Union still finished the game at 47.0 percent (31 of 66) from the field and 42.1 percent (8 of 19) from beyond the arc, while limiting Plattsburgh to 34.2 percent (26 of 76) shooting.
 
Union will return home next weekend for the annual Sig Makofski Invitational, beginning on Saturday with a 4 p.m. matchup against Manhattanville University.