Box Score NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – It was the tale of two halves on Tuesday evening in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game at the Hawk Center, as the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team trailed just once in the first half before falling behind early in the second and settling for a 72-69 loss against SUNY Cortland.
New Paltz led by as many as eight in the first half, jumping out to a 10-2 lead early. Cortland hung around, tied the score twice and knocked down a layup at the first-half buzzer to enter the locker room down three at 32-29. The Red Dragons were hot out of the gates in the second stanza and never relinquished the lead, though New Paltz made things interesting late by erasing a double-digit deficit and losing by just three points.
New Paltz drops to 4-6 overall and 1-2 in the SUNYAC. The Hawks next face off against SUNY Oneonta on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 4 p.m. at the Hawk Center. Cortland rises to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in the SUNYAC. The Red Dragons return to action on Friday, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m. against Buffalo State.
The Hawks appeared unstoppable early, going on an 8-0 run after sophomore guard T.J. Hefele opened the game with a made jumper on Cortland's first possession. Cortland clawed back, though, and sophomore guard Blair Estarfaa cashed in on a layup at 12:09 of the first half to knot the score at 14-all. Sophomore forward
Alex Perlman (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) scored five points in the final three minutes of the first stanza to help the Hawks gain solid footing, but a five-point New Paltz lead that seemed secure heading into halftime dwindled to three after senior forward Garen Spendjian swiped the ball and fed junior guard Lamard Herron for a layup right before the buzzer.
Cortland began the second half on a 9-0 run, and senior forward/center Kevin McMahon punctuated that scoring spree with a layup at 17:39 of the second half. Midway through the second half, Cortland broke the game open, and after a Herron layup with 2:16 to go in regulation, the Red Dragons held a comfortable 13-point lead.
New Paltz, however, had designs of staging a comeback, and those plans were helped by Cortland's struggles at the free-throw line. The Red Dragons—who shot just 57.7 percent (15-of-26) from the line for the game—went 6-of-10 from the charity stripe during New Paltz's comeback bid in the final 2:16 of play.
The true drama happened in the final 25 seconds, as after Herron sank a free throw, graduate student guard
Nick Taldi (Merrick, N.Y./Bellmore JFK) connected on a three-pointer just seven seconds later. Hefele made a pair of free throws on Cortland's next possession, but junior guard/forward
Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) made it a four-point game once again with six seconds left on the clock. The Red Dragons went 1-of-2 at the line on their next trip down the floor, and after senior guard
Andrew Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y./High School of Art and Design) misfired on a three-pointer with about two seconds remaining, Sowah converted on a put-back dunk to provide the final margin of victory.
New Paltz grabbed 14 offensive rebounds for the contest and scored 18 second-chance points, and it finished with a 40-31 edge in boards. Cortland, however, won on the strength of 46.3 percent (25-of-54) shooting from the floor, and the Hawks shot just 38.7 percent (24-of-62). New Paltz did shoot well at the foul line, finishing with an 82.4 percent mark (14-of-17).
Sowah led the Hawk attack with 18 points, while junior guard/forward
R.J. Rosa (Marlboro, N.Y./Sullivan West) netted 13. Joseph had a solid stat line of seven points, five rebounds and four assists, while Sowah tallied seven points, two assists and two blocks.
Cortland had five student-athletes reach double-figure scoring, led by Herron's 16 points. McMahon (13), Esterfaa (10), Hefele (10) and Spendjian (10) rounded out the rest of the Red Dragons' double-digit scorers. McMahon finished with a game-high nine rebounds, while Herron posted a game-high six assists. Furthermore, McMahon totaled three steals.
