The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team played two tough first-half games in their most recent SUNYAC weekend, but as it hits the road Saturday and Tuesday for re-matches against SUNY Oneonta (7-5 overall, 3-3 SUNYAC) and Oswego State (7-6, 4-2), respectively, the Hawks know they will need to put together two full games to come out with a couple of victories.
"We've been a good first half team all year, and for us it's just about putting together two full 40 minutes," SUNY New Paltz junior guard
Matt Misser. "I feel like if we do that we can be in any game all the way down the stretch. I just feel like we have to do a better job of taking our first half momentum and bringing it in the second half and clap them right in the face, not letting them get any confidence themselves. We have to keep converting when get the opportunities, in crunch time especially."
The Hawks (4-9, 1-5) just recently took on the Lakers in the Hawk Center on Jan. 5. It was a three-point game at halftime, but a five-minute stretch in the second half where Oswego State went on a 13-0 run ultimately put the game out of reach, resulting in an 84-69 defeat.
"When we played Oswego we played them tight in the first half, second half kind of fell off," said SUNY New Paltz sophomore forward
Matthew English. "We're just looking for a full 40 minutes strong. Strong effort on both ends and I think we have a good shot."
The Hawks were led offensively by
Dylan Balducci (22 points) and
Nick Paquette (14) in the game, while the Lakers put five different scorers in double figures, including sophomore guard Brandan Gartland (19) and senior guard Jamir Ferebee (18), who combined to shoot 57 percent from the field, including 7-of-11 from 3-point range.
SUNY New Paltz is looking to enact some revenge on Oswego State's home floor, which has played just one home game all season heading into this weekend.
"I'd say we had some nice flashes this past weekend," Misser said. "One thing that our team is good at is that our team never gives up when we're down the stretch. We're always fighting until the very end and I think if we take that same attitude into this weekend, and just remember they beat us on our home court, we just got to take that in with us and look for our payback."
The first time the Hawks took on SUNY Oneonta this year it was the opposite kind of game than against Oswego State. The Red Dragons led by as many as 19 and SUNY New Paltz rallied to get within a basket several times down the stretch, but just couldn't complete the come-back.
"Last time we played Oneonta it was a close one," English said. "We kind of came on late, didn't get off to the best start so this time we're looking to come out with a big, strong defensive effort and come out, hit our shots and do our thing."
Heading into their two matchups, the Hawks are averaging around 75 points per game, but are giving up about 82 a contest. They hope to better those numbers and up their winning percentage on the road, where they've won just once all year.
"I think the biggest thing about being away from your home court is that you got to stay together on the road," Misser said. "You're the only ones you got and you got to work through adversity. It's their home court, so obviously they're going to go on some runs, get some confidence going because they've got the crowd behind them, but we have to fight through that and just play our game, don't let it get to us."
SUNY New Paltz is set to face SUNY Oneonta at 5 p.m. Saturday – a time change due to inclement weather – and then take on Oswego State Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. For everything #NPHawks be sure to follow
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