Box Score New Paltz, NY — Nearing in on a statement conference win Friday to keep its undefeated streak alive in the Hawk Center, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team couldn't cement what was a double-digit lead down the stretch and lost in heart-breaking fashion, 65-63, in the final seconds against The College at Brockport (9-4 overall, 5-1 SUNYAC).
 
"I think we've been pretty good in close games. We just didn't finish this one," said Hawks coach Keith Kenney. "All of us, coaches included, we didn't execute and make the right plays, and Brockport made one more play than us. That was the difference."
 
SUNY New Paltz (6-6, 1-4) is no stranger to tight contests, as five of its 12 games has come down to five points or less. Including a seven-point overtime game, the Hawks have won five of those outings.
 
The first half saw four lead changes with the score tied three times. Scott Reisert knotted the game at 28 with about two minutes to go, which lasted until Mongomery Stroman laid in a fast-break bucket with 10 seconds remaining to push the Golden Eagles ahead by two into the break.
 
After another back-and-forth start to the second half, the Hawks started taking control of the game midway through after going on a 23-11 run from the 16-minute mark to about seven minutes remaining in the half. SUNY New Paltz knocked down six 3's in the stretch, including three from Nick Paquette to help build the double-figure cushion. 
 
"We hit open shots," said Kenney of the mid-second half run. "The first half we didn't make a lot of shots, so we started making shots and we got Scott the ball. Scott was dominate down low and Nick and Tristan [Wissemann] started hitting some 3's and then toward the end of the game we missed a few foul shots and their guy hit a bunch of 3's and that really hurt us."
 
The Hawks led by as many as 13 following back-to-back 3's from Wissemann and Paquette. But after Devante Hagins put an end to the run for the Golden Eagles with about seven minutes remaining, they started their rally and closed out the night on an 18-5 run of their own.
 
Three-straight 3-pointers by Antonio Alvarez gave Brockport back the lead and out in front by four with about two minutes left, but the Hawks fought back to re-gain control. Wissemann responded with 3 on the next possession and then after a solid defensive stop by the Hawks, established himself on the block and powered his way to the hoop to put his team back on top, 63-62, with 39 seconds left.
 
Wissemann stepped up again, this time on the defensive end, snatching a pass away from the Golden Eagles' Chris Askinson on a kick-out to give SUNY New Paltz back possession with a one-point advantage and just 34 seconds remaining.

But, the Hawks had trouble all night at the charity stripe and their woes continued down the stretch. Brockport continued putting SUNY New Paltz on the foul line to extend the game and missed free throws kept the Golden Eagles around in the waning seconds. The Hawks finished just 3-of-10 from the line in the game.
 
"I was proud of our defensive effort tonight. I think we just didn't execute a couple plays down the stretch defensively," Kenney said. "We didn't make the right reads, but overall I thought that was one of our best defensive efforts. At the end of the day you have to make baskets to win and get the stops when you need them. Not necessarily how many, but when they are. We had some costly turnovers and missed free throws. We just didn't execute how we wanted to."
 
Following a missed free throw by the Hawks, Brockport gave the ball right back after a turnover by Jahidi Wallace. SUNY New Paltz held possession underneath the basket, but couldn't get a clean entry pass in and they too turned the ball over, giving the Golden Eagles an opportunity to tie the game with 11 seconds and the ball on their offensive side.
 
Atkinson inbounded and threw a lob pass toward the basket to Hagins coming off a screen, who tipped the ball into the net and give his team the lead.
 
"We thought they would run some screen actions to get something in the lane," Kenney said. "We talked about that and we just didn't execute it."
 
Out of timeouts, SUNY New Paltz quickly got the ball down the floor with time ticking away. Garcia sent a pass to Keith Seaman running the floor, but on his way down from catching the ball, Wallace collided with him while attempting to pick off the pass. Without a whistle for a foul, the ball trickled out of bounds for a Brockport possession, sealing the game as the buzzer sounded.
 
Reisert led the Hawks with 22 points on 11-for-16 shooting from the field to go along with 13 rebounds, two blocks and an assist. Wisssemann followed with 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
"I just think that we battled is what we can take from it," Kenney said. "They never gave up. They went toe to toe with a very good team, top in our league, so just the fight was the main thing that was positive."
 
SUNY New Paltz will look to bounce back Saturday when it hosts SUNY Geneseo in the Hawk Center for a 4 p.m. game.

To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks,Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.