The Buffalo State Bengals looked to extend their six-game win streak this past Friday as they traveled to Plattsburgh State.

Despite 18 points from senior guard Chris Cartwright and a career-best eight steals from sophomore guard Jordan Glover, a 31 percent shooting night prevented the streak from continuing and saw the Cardinals pick up an 86-71 victory.

“The trip to Plattsburgh is a long and tough one and it’s always a challenge regardless of record,” head coach Fajri Ansari said. “They lost to Brockport, so I knew they would be up for the game and we had to match their intensity. We shot badly in the game and missed some key free throws early in the game.”

Plattsburgh — the team that eliminated the Bengals from playoff contention last season — out-rebounded the Bengals 59 to 40 and outshot them from beyond the arc with an 18-6 advantage.

The Bengals showed resilience and poise Saturday as they came out and got the job done against Potsdam with a come-from-behind 77-74 win.

“Friday’s loss was a tough one, we started off slow,” Glover said. “But after that game, we knew in order to still be in the running for a high seed in the playoffs, we had to come out strong on Saturday and pull that win out no matter what the circumstances were, and that’s what we did.”

The Bears had the lead for the majority of the game and led by as much as 12 in the second half before the Bengals rallied back. Trailing 71-63 with 1:40 left in the game, Buffalo State finished the game on 14-4 run, taking a 74-72 lead on a three-pointer by Cartwright.

“(Potsdam) had nothing to lose and we could have overlooked them based on their record but I was proud of the comeback,” Ansari said. “It was important for us to get the win in such a competitive league. Losing would have been very difficult especially since the seventh and eighth place teams have a .500 record in conference.”

The Bengals were the better team at free throw line in what was a very statistically balanced game. Their 67 percent to the Bears 40 percent is the telling figure as missed free throws were what allowed Buffalo State back in the game. Senior forward Larry Rivers led the Bengals with 18 points and eight rebounds.

On what can be done to finish out the season strong and get the playoff spot the Bengals desire, Glover reflected on his team role.

“As we get closer to the playoffs, I just want to focus on being more aggressive,” Glover said. “My coaches always tell me to be more aggressive and just go at guys and attack. I’ve got to try and score more, which takes the load off of my backcourt mate Chris Cartwright and my wingman Rod Epps.

“So to help them and the team, I’ll focus on attacking and being more aggressive.”

The Bengals finished the weekend with a record of 11-7 overall and 7-5 in the SUNYAC conference, good for the sixth and final playoff position as the postseason comes closer.

Ansari knows the team can’t rely on just one player, or even one side of the ball.

“We are going to have to dig down and play with discipline on the offensive side of the ball,” Ansari said. “It’s good that we have multiple players we can rely on sharing the ball. And we have to lock down on defense. If we do that we can be successful.”

Next up for Bengals are two pivotal SUNYAC matchups at the Buffalo State Sports Arena this weekend against Cortland on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Oswego at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

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