Box Score Box Score

CORTLAND, N.Y. – After falling behind in the second half, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team (11-9, 7-7 SUNYAC) stormed back, but the comeback bid came up short, as SUNY Cortland (7-13, 4-9 SUNYAC) defended its home floor at Corey Gym on Tuesday night in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action and won by a count of 77-70.

Tuesday's contest served as a make-up from last Tuesday, Feb. 1. A winter storm that enveloped New York forced a postponement, moving the meeting forward a week.

New Paltz hit the ground running, leading for nearly the entirety of the first half. The Hawks gained their largest lead of the game with 14:26 to go in the first half when junior guard Shereef Taylor (Hyde Park, N.Y.) put the visitors up by eight at 13-5 with a three-pointer. After another Taylor three gave New Paltz a five-point edge with 1:58 left in the first half, Cortland went on a 5-0 run to close the period, which was capped by a Jeremy Smith three-pointer with two seconds left on the clock. That made shot from beyond the arc knotted the tally at 31-all.

The Red Dragons used a 10-1 tear to start the second, and they constructed a lead as large as 12, which happened twice: once with 14:08 left in regulation and again with 13:45 to go in the second half. After Cortland's John Connolly pushed the score to 56-45 in favor of the home team, head coach Dagan Nelson called a timeout midway through the frame. New Paltz then went on a 12-2 spurt that lasted 3:29, and a three-pointer by sophomore guard Nick Taldi (Merrick, N.Y.) trimmed the lead to one at 58-57. Freshman forward Danny Nardiello (Hicksville, N.Y.) and freshman guard Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y.) would each provide a basket and a free throw, respectively, to cut the deficit to one twice down the stretch, but Cortland went 6-of-6 from the line in the final two minutes to stamp out the Hawks' attempt at a comeback.

Both teams shot evenly from the field, as New Paltz went 25-for-61 (41.0 percent), while Cortland went 28-for-68 (41.2 percent). The Red Dragons, however, won the game at the free-throw line, shooting 78.9 percent (15-of-19) to the Hawks' 53.8 percent (14-of-26). New Paltz crashed the boards well and held a 48-34 cushion on the glass.

Junior forward/center Daniel Olsen (Stafford Springs, Conn.) and Taylor led New Paltz, as each provided a double-double. Olsen had 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Taylor scored 13 points and grabbed 11 boards. Taldi added 12 points, while junior guard Harris Wichard (Merrick, N.Y.) rounded out the Hawk scorers in double figures with 11. Wichard had the team-high in both assist (4) and steals (2) and grabbed eight rebounds as well.

Wichard now sits at 984 points on his career, 16 shy of 1,000 points. Only 13 players in the history of the New Paltz men's basketball program have reached that milestone, and Wichard has one year remaining of eligibility following the 2010-11 season.

For Cortland, Winter paced the attack with 20 points, while Kevin McMahon and Jeremy Smith offered 17 and 16 points respectively. Winter provided five assists, while Dan Sternkopf reeled in seven boards.

New Paltz looks forward to hosting the two Rochester-area teams this weekend. The College at Brockport comes to town on Friday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m., while the Hawks will take to the court on Saturday, Feb. 12, at 4 p.m. to face SUNY Geneseo in their regular-season home finale.