Coming off a tough loss on the road against Oswego State, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team is looking to bounce-back in SUNYAC play when it returns on its home floor Friday against Buffalo State (6-9 overall, 2-7 SUNYAC) and Saturday against Fredonia State (2-13, 0-9).
 
"Off a tough loss it's hard to re-focus, but we have to do that because we've been down a couple times and adversity doesn't stop us," said sophomore forward Nick Arthur. "We got to come back harder than ever."
 
The Hawks (4-11, 1-7), who had averaged nearly 70 points per game prior to their most recent outing, have struggled with their shooting touch as of late. They scored a season-low 57 points against the Lakers and shot just 33.3 percent from the floor, including 12.5 percent from 3, which played a big role in Oswego's opening 15-0 run. 

"We have been coming off a rough start the past couple games, especially in the beginning," said SUNY Hawks freshman guard Kyle LoCastro. "The key is to not dig our selves in a big hole in the beginning. We got to play great on defense and we got to make sure we hit our shots and get great open shots on the offensive end as well."
 
Despite the off offensive night, SUNY New Paltz isn't too concerned with its shooting touch on its home floor, where the Hawks are averaging about 45 percent from the floor and 38 percent from 3-point range, but rather their defense, which has allowed about 82 points per game.
 
"Honestly, we just got to play hard defense," Arthur said. "That is the main thing. Offense will come. It was an away game, so offense is not a big a deal. It's defense. When there are no fans, we just have each other. That's all we have."
 
Currently, SUNY New Paltz is second to last in the SUNYAC standings with its only conference win coming against SUNY Geneseo on Dec. 2. Sitting at the bottom is the Blue Devils, who have yet to earn a win in conference play, while the Bengals are one-game ahead of the Hawks.
 
Ian Helps (14.8 points per game) and Dante' Williams (11) are leading scorers for Fredonia State, which has averaged about 63 points per game this season. Williams is also the team's leading rebounder, averaging 11 per game.
 
Defensively, the Blue Devils have allowed 77.5 points a contest, and have let up 80-plus points six times this season, and on average allow the opposition about 45.1 percent shooting from the field.
 
Buffalo State, meanwhile, has a potent offense that has averaged nearly 82 points per game with three different players averaging double-figures, including leading scorer Mike Henry (19.1), Sheldon Adams (16.1) and Sir.Quintin Campbell (13.2).
 
The Bengals haven't been as tight defensively this season, however, giving up nearly 86 points per game.

They will try and put an end to a three-game losing skid against the Hawks.
 
"Yeah I feel very confident," said LoCastro. "These are two very winnable games like every [conference] game is. We just got to keep putting it together and stay together, and we got it."
 
SUNY New Paltz is set to take on Buffalo State at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, and Fredonia State at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Hawk Center. Be sure to follow @nphawks on Twitter and @newpaltzhawks on Instagram and Facebook for live updates, highlights, game recaps and more!