The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team has yet to lose at home in its 2018-19 campaign and will try to keep its streak alive this weekend as the Hawks take on The College at Brockport and SUNY Geneseo.
 
"We love playing in the Hawk Center," said SUNY New Paltz junior transfer Scott Reisert. "We bring our own energy. We're here all day during the day when we have home games. It's just keep bringing the energy, come out with intensity and hit them as fast as we can right off the tip and keep going from there."
 
The Hawks (6-5 overall, 4-0 SUNYAC), who are one victory away from matching their win total from last season, are coming off an uneven performance against league-leading Oswego State on the road Tuesday. SUNY New Paltz accumulated just 11 points on four made shots in the first half, putting itself in a large halftime hole. Although the Hawks made a valiant effort in the final 20 minutes to cut the deficit to as much as 36  to 15 midway through the second half, they ultimately took their worst loss of the season, 86-56. 
 
"Oswego, they came out hard, but we picked it up in the second half," Reisert said. "But honestly, to keep [our offense] consistent we just have to play our game. Keep playing, get the ball where we want it to get to, get to our shots and honestly, we were just missing shots and they were hitting shots and it just happened so quick."
 
Overall, SUNY New Paltz has had one of its best starts in seven years, earning victories against SUNY Maritime, SUNY Delhi, The Sage Colleges, The College of New Rochelle and an upset win over Catskill Cup rival SUNY Oneonta, which was its lone State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) victory thus far.
 
The Knights were the Hawks' first SUNYAC win last season after earning a comfortable, 73-60 victory.
 
SUNY Geneseo currently sits second to last in the conference and is coming off a double-overtime loss against Fredonia State to extend its losing streak to three with its lone SUNYAC win coming over SUNY Potsdam in a 80-65 game Dec. 7.
 
"In order to get another win at home against Geneseo is to work our sets through, make them work on defense and just hit open shots when we have them, and just attack the rim," said SUNY New Paltz senior guard Nick Paquette.
 
Terrance Nichols leads the Knights offensively with 16.4 points and five rebounds per game, followed by Zack Panebianco, who has averaged 15.2 points per game. As a team, SUNY Geneseo averages 71 points a contest, while letting up about 69 points against.

The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, are near the top of the conference. They are coming off back-to-back wins over Alfred University and Buffalo State, while also earning SUNYAC victories over SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Cortland and defending conference champion Plattsburgh State with their only loss coming against the Lakers Dec. 1.
 
As a team, Brockport averages nearly 80 points per game with 70 percent of its points coming inside the perimeter. Defensively, the Golden Eagles allow 74 points a contest, keeping their opposition to 39 percent from the floor.
 
Justin Summers is the catalyst offensively for Brockport, totaling just about 20 points per game to go along with nearly 10 boards and three blocks a contest. He's followed by Devante Hagins, who has averaged 14.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and two steals per game.
 
"To get a win against Brockport we'll have to play a very intense defense," Paquette said. "We're going to have to communicate with each other on all ends, be there to contain the ball, contest open jump shots and just communicate with each other on the defensive end of the court."
 
Tristan Wissemann has paced the Hawks offensively thus far, leading the team with 16 points and five rebounds per game, followed by Jake Passaretti and Reisert, who average 12.2 points, four assists and 10.9 points, five rebounds per game, respectively.
 
At home, SUNY New Paltz averages about 45 percent from the field and 34 percent from 3-point range, while allowing the opposition six points less than on the road. Its defense will be key heading into both games this weekend to keep its undefeated streak in the Hawk Center alive.
 
"We can play with these teams. We're a good team and we're not afraid of anyone," Reisert said. "Both teams get to the hole really well. They like to finish and like to get inside. They don't really shoot too well, but we're just trying to condense everything down and play good help team defense and keep them out of the paint as much as we can."
 
The Hawks are set to tip-off against Brockport Friday at 7:30 before taking on SUNY Geneseo Saturday at 4 p.m.

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