Box Score New Paltz, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team hosted SUNY Maritime College in its home-opener Friday in the Hawk Center, and although the Privateers (1-3 overall) threatened to ruin the Hawks' return to their home court, SUNY New Paltz did enough to hold on to the victory, earning a 77-73 win.

"It definitely wasn't a pretty win, but at the end of the day, a win is a win and it felt really good to be on our home court in our home opener and win in front of our home fans," said Hawks junior forward Tristan Wissemann. "Hopefully, we can generate momentum off of that."

The Hawks (1-1) led by as many as 14 in the first half after coming out aggressive off the opening tip. SUNY New Paltz attacked the basket and took advantage of open layups in transition to go up, 15-3 within the first five minutes and continued to hold on to a 10-point advantage midway through the half.

But, a 10-point run by Maritime knotted up the score for the first time and created a 23-all stalemate following a Michael Walker 3-pointer.

Freshman Dylan Fraser came in and immediately answered for the Hawks, drilling back-to-back 3's to establish a six-point cushion in the matter of seconds. SUNY New Paltz built off that momentum and ended the first half with a 21-7 run to take a 44-30 lead at halftime.

"For me a big positive was the freshmen coming into the game and really contributing," Wissemann said. "Dylan, Isaiah [Bien-Aise] and Brandon [Scott] all came in and gave quality minutes, gave the starters a chance to catch their breath and then come back in and be fresh, so big shout out to them for that."

The Hawks' lead ballooned to as many as 18 early in the first half, but the Privateers slowly crept in after switching back to a zone defense. SUNY New Paltz had trouble getting its offense going with the defensive change, as it began settling for long jumpers and contested 3-pointers. It maintained a 17-point advantage with about 15 minutes left in regulation, but Maritime rallied to get within two with seven minutes to go following a 23-8 stretch.  

"We didn't play well against their zone. I think that was the difference in the game," said SUNY New Paltz coach Keith Kenney. "We need to practice more against zone and get better against zone, because once they went into their zone we weren't getting good shots and that was what got them back in the game. Also, [Brennan Whelen] on their team, we couldn't stop him. He started penetrating our defense and we broke down. He was a really good player."

The Privateers hovered around the lead for the next three minutes or so and finally tied the game at 69 with 3:09 left. The Hawks never broke, however, not allowing the visitors to take control. Following a timeout by Kenney, SUNY New Paltz made a defensive stop and then created a cushion after a basket in the paint by Scott Reisert. Two made free throws by Maritime tied the game again, but Parr found Wissemann in the corner for a big 3 to put his team back up with 1:37 remaining.

"We just kept saying, 'Look, we're supposed to win this game. This is our game to win,'" said Wissemann. "We just stuck to the plan, stuck to the scouting report and like I said, it wasn't pretty, but we pulled it out. A win is a win."

Whelen got his basket to go with 29 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one, but the Hawks' Cory Garcia iced the game at the foul line, making 3-of-4 in the final seconds. 

"I think it is a testament of making a bunch of plays," Kenney said. "A good team wins close games even when they don't play well and that was the takeaway on the positive end. We were encouraged they didn't let it slip away and they still won. That was my message to them and they made the clutch plays, got a couple stops and made their free throws and they won the game, so that is the positive moving forward."

Wissemann led his team with 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field with four rebounds and four assists. Jake Passaretti followed with 11 points, five assists, while Reisert added 10 points and six rebounds – three of which were on the offensive end. Parr led the Hawks with 10 boards to go along with three assists and two points.

After shooting more than 52 percent from the floor in the first half, SUNY New Paltz shot just 31.4 percent in the second half to average 42.3 percent from the field in the game, while making just 9-for-36 from behind the arc. The Privateers made 41.5 percent of their shots and 31 percent from 3.

"I think we were just tentative. We didn't attack the zone, we just kind of passed it around and just took the first or second open look we had, and that is exactly what a zone defense wants you to do," Kenney said. "You're always going to miss shots, but I think it was the tentativeness that we played with, because we hadn't really played against it yet. But you know, a win is a win and we'll always take a win. We know what we need to work on."

The Hawks hope to notch their second-straight win at home Tuesday when they host SUNY Delhi in the Hawk Center for a 7 p.m. game. For everything #NPHawks including photos, video, recaps and highlights, be sure to follow @nphawks on Twitter and @newpaltzhawks on Facebook and Instagram.