Box Score New Paltz, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team made another second-half come-back Saturday against visiting SUNY Oneonta. The Red Dragons led by as many as 19 points on the day, but the Hawks rallied to get within a basket several times down the stretch. Unfortunately, they could not put together a last-second victory, falling 73-69.

"It was disappointing with our effort early in the game and that is what got us into that hole," said SUNY New Paltz coach Keith Kenney. "I told them if we keep digging ourselves holes we're not going to come out of them. So it was good that we fought back, but you're not going to win many SUNYAC games when you're giving the other team's 10-15 point leads to start out."

The Hawks (2-5 overall, 1-2 SUNYAC) have gotten in the habit of starting games slowly. They came back from nearly 20 points down in their previous outing against SUNY Cortland Dec. 5, but it was too little too late to earn the win, and they had a similar fate against The College at Brockport Dec. 1.
  On Saturday, they allowed the Red Dragons (4-3 overall, 1-2 SUNYAC) to come out with a 25-10 lead with 10 minutes to go before the break. SUNY New Paltz started grinding its way back deep into the half and finished the first 20 minutes strong, out-scoring Oneonta, 15-10, the rest of the way to cut the deficit to 10 at intermission.

"I think the fact they came back from a big lead down. We didn't fold up and go home, so that's a positive, but that's the only positive I take from this," Kenney said.

A 15-1 run made midway through the second half, which was capped off with seven-straight points by Dylan Balducci, allowed the Hawks to get back within four with 10 minutes, 37 seconds remaining.

SUNY New Paltz trimmed Oneonta's lead to two four times in the last 10 minutes, but could not come up with a key stop and basket to gain the advantage.

With 1:01 left in the game, Balducci earned a trip to the foul line and made 1-of-2, getting his team within five.

After the Hawks forced a turnover on a double dribble the following play, Balducci headed back to the charity stripe, this time sinking both to push the score, 71-69 with 29.5 seconds left. But, that's all the offense the Hawks had the rest of the way, and the Red Dragons finished off the game at the free throw line, making just enough (3-of-6) in the final minute to ice it.

"I think once we came close and came back to make it a game we went through a stretch where we took some bad shots," Kenney said. "I think we were down three or five points at the time. Our shot selection was bad, but we got back into the game. We took some bad shots and we couldn't get over the hump. At the end it's just about execution and making a play. Obviously, they made a few more plays than us."

Balducci led all scorers with 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Nick Paquette followed with 11 points and five rebounds, while Brandon Guest added eight points, four rebounds and two assists.

Paddy Parr and Matthew English played well off the bench for SUNY New Paltz. Parr finished with four points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in 23 minutes, while English recorded six points, three boards, an assist and a steal in 22 minutes.

The Hawks take a break from SUNYAC play Tuesday when they are back on the floor to take on Western Connecticut State for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off. For live updates, recaps, photos, video and more, be sure to follow @nphawks on Twitter and @newpaltzhawks on Instagram and Facebook.