NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – After beating Hamilton College on Saturday, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team looks to ride that momentum on Tuesday, Jan. 7, as the Hawks host SUNY Cortland in their first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) home game of the season.
LIVE COVERAGE: The New Paltz Athletic Communications Office will provide live stats and live video at the above links.
RECORDS: New Paltz enters Tuesday's contest with a 4-5 overall record and a 1-1 mark in the SUNYAC… Cortland owns a 6-3 overall mark and is 1-1 in conference play.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS (4-5, 1-1 SUNYAC): New Paltz earned its first-ever win over a NESCAC school on Saturday, topping non-conference Hamilton College, 75-69, in Clinton, N.Y... The Hawks, who never trailed the entire game, held off Hamilton in the final minute... After Hamilton's Joseph Lin scored on a layup with a minute to go to draw the home team within two, New Paltz held the Continentals scoreless in the waning seconds of the contest... Junior guard/forward
R.J. Rosa paced the Hawks with career-high totals in points (20), rebounds (7), assists (4) and steals (3)... Sophomore guard
Keegan Donovan and junior guard/forward
Taylor Sowah also chipped in with 13 points apiece... In a balanced scoring effort, nine of the 10 Hawks who saw action scored at least one point... Seven of New Paltz's next eight games will take place at the Hawk Center, all of which occur in January.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Sowah is tops on the team and 11th in the SUNYAC in scoring with 14.6 points per game, which he has achieved off 50 percent shooting (37-of-74)… Freshman forward
Andrew Seniuk has proven to be an efficient shooter as well, as he is knocking down shots at a team-best 68 percent clip (34-of-50)… Seniuk, however, does not qualify to rank among the SUNYAC leaders, as he does not average five made field goals a game… Senior guard
Andrew Joseph and Sowah are first and second, respectively, on the team in rebounding at 6.4 and 6.3 rebounds per game, while Joseph owns the SUNYAC's eighth-best per-game average in assists (3.3)… Sowah paces New Paltz in steals per game (1.1), while Rosa is tops on the squad in blocks per game (0.6).
TEAM STATISTICS: The Hawks are holding their opponents to 75.2 points per game, which is the sixth-best average in the SUNYAC… Where New Paltz truly excels, however, is at the line; the Hawks rank third in the SUNYAC in free-throw percentage (70.3 percent off 123-of-175 shooting).
SCOUTING THE RED DRAGONS (6-3, 1-1 SUNYAC): Cortland won the Catholic University Holiday Inn College Park Classic over the weekend in Washington, D.C., defeating host Catholic University of America, 62-56, on Saturday before claiming the title after downing Misericordia University, 69-62, on Sunday... Senior forward/center Kevin McMahon was named the Tournament MVP, while junior guard Lamard Herron joined McMahon on the All-Tournament Team... Those victories snapped a three-game losing streak, which dated back to Dec. 7... McMahon earned Tournament MVP honors on the strength of 36 points and 21 rebounds across both games... He also shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field and posted three blocks in the championship game against Misericordia... After today's game, the Red Dragons return to the friendly confines of Corey Gym for three straight contests.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: McMahon leads the SUNYAC in rebounding with 11.1 rebounds per game, while Herron and McMahon rank seventh and eighth in the SUNYAC in scoring with 17.4 and 15.9 points per game, respectively… Herron's 3.4 assists per game rank seventh in the conference, and he is seventh in the SUNYAC in steals as well (2.1 per game)… McMahon holds a share of fifth in the SUNYAC in blocked shots per game (1.6).
TEAM STATISTICS: Cortland, which ranks toward the bottom of the conference in scoring offense, makes up for it with a stout defense… The Red Dragons rank second in the SUNYAC in scoring defense (62.9 points per game)… Opponents are shooting just 39.7 percent (189-of-476) against Cortland this year… Cortland leads the SUNYAC in rebounding margin (+3.2).
LAST MEETING: New Paltz split the 2012-13 season series with Cortland, and the Red Dragons wound up finishing as the SUNYAC champions… The Hawks prevailed, 77-70, when the two teams met on Jan. 8, 2013, at the Hawk Center, while Cortland won, 87-47, at Corey Gym on Feb. 12, 2013.
GAME RECAPS:
Jan. 8, 2013Feb. 12, 2013 WHAT'S NEXT: New Paltz hosts SUNY Oneonta at the Hawk Center on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 4 p.m., while Cortland entertains Buffalo State (Friday, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m.) and SUNY Fredonia (Saturday, Jan. 11, at 4 p.m.) this weekend.
COACHES: New Paltz is guided by third-year head coach
Mike Rejniak, while Cortland is mentored by 19th-year head coach Tom Spanbauer.
