New Paltz, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz put an end to a three-game losing streak Tuesday after claiming a 67-61 win over visiting St. Joseph's-Brooklyn in the Hawk Center.

The Hawks (3-4 overall, 0-2 conference) had their best defensive game of the season against the Bears (4-2, 0-1), who went into the outing averaging 75-plus points per game. SUNY New Paltz held them to just 61 points on 31.8 percent shooting from the field, but also controlled the boards with seniors Tristan Wissemann and Scott Reisert leading the way.

"We needed it really bad," Wissemann said of the win. "We had the momentum going the other way. It was going against us and we have a pretty long break until our next game, so it is good to have some momentum going our way with a little one-game winning streak going into our games in Florida."
 

After St. Joseph's-Brooklyn got out to an opening 7-2 lead, SUNY New Paltz got going with a 15-0 run to gain its first cushion, which it never relinquished the rest of the way. Reisert knocked down a corner 3 off a pass in transition by Jake Passaretti to tie the score at seven with Passaretti following with a trey of his own off an assist from Reisert. Passaretti then earned the ball back for his team, getting a steal and finishing an easy lay-in in the open court. Passaretti finished on another jumper before Reisert closed out the run with another 3-ball to boost the lead to 10 with 15 minutes to go in the half.

The Hawks extended their advantage to as many as 13 with less than three minutes remaining until the break with Richard Altenord also getting into the open floor after a steal. Wissemann cleaned up around the basket to secure the 13-point advantage. Although the Bears got within seven with less than two minutes to go, the Hawks ended the half strong after getting some quality minutes off the bench from freshman Rylan Blondo. Blondo put away a highlight bucket to give his team back the 10-point cushion. Beating his defender, Blondo spun his way through the paint and finished with his left, while also taking contact at the rim to finish the and-1. He made the back-end of the free throw to add to the lead. Isiah Bien-Aise then put away the last basket of the half for SUNY New Paltz to push the advantage, 37-25 at the break.
 

Oh my @Rylan_Blondo w the spin & finish, #countit #andone @NPMensHoops #NPHawks #NPHawksMBB pic.twitter.com/312WA5pzmU

— New Paltz Hawks (@nphawks) December 10, 2019

The Hawks continued to battle on the defensive end, which helped them maintain control, but early fouls and careless turnovers kept St. Joseph's-Brooklyn around in the second half. They started the second 20-minute period with six fouls in the first three minutes to give the Bears extended chances on free points at the line.

"We have to focus on not fouling as much," Wissemann said. "I think they were in the bonus by the 15th or 16th-minute mark in the second half. It was way too much. We have to clean that up and the offense will come, but I'm really happy with our defense today. We held them to 61 I believe, so that is a really good step in the right direction."

The Bears cut the deficit to as close as six, but SUNY New Paltz made plays when it needed to. Nick Arthur went hard at the basket, took contact and earned the foul, while getting his basket to go to earn the traditional three-point play. Following the made free throw, he boosted the lead back to nine.

The difference was trimmed to seven several times down the stretch, but SUNY New Paltz answered on the other end to force the Bears in playing catch-up the rest of the way.

SUNY New Paltz put Sebastien Etheart on the foul line with 1 minute, 45 seconds left in the game, who made both attempts to give St. Joseph's-Brooklyn one last lifeline. Passaretti earned a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession and connected on both. After a missed 3-point attempt by the Bears, Richard Altenord registered a trip to the charity stripe and also made his pair of foul shots. The Hawks closed out from there, playing one last good defensive stand to force two bad attempts by the Bears in the waning seconds to secure the six-point victory.

"I wasn't worried, obviously we wanted to win, but we just haven't played well so we wanted to put a game together where we actually played well," said SUNY New Paltz coach Keith Kenney. "I think we did that." SUNY New Paltz dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the opposition, 51-33 in the game and overcame a tough night in the turnover battle, succumbing to 20 turnover versus 13 for the Bears. Overall, the Hawks were carried by their defense, which registered a season-low in points allowed.

"Any team we hold to 61 is a good day," Kenney said. "I think that was our smartest defensive game where we listened to the plan and they executed it. Nothing but happy on the defensive end.

"I think what hurt us was getting into foul trouble early and putting them in the bonus, and then obviously we gave them some easy points. We probably played a little slow and I thought we missed a lot of easy chippy's that I think will start falling. We definitely still turn the ball over too much, but they did close the game out so I was happy about that."

Reisert, following a rough three-game stretch where he totaled just four points, led the way for SUNY New Paltz with a team-high 14 points, while tying a career-high with 13 rebounds. Wissemann, who also came off a tough offensive weekend, followed with 13 points, while adding a game- and career-high 14 rebounds on the night with seven boards coming on the offensive glass.

"I felt like Nick Arthur out there. It was crazy," said Wissemann. "But, it was good. I was definitely hustling on the boards, trying to make my impact felt…  I know my responsibility. I know I have to contribute in more ways than just scoring. There's other ways to chip in other than scoring. You can rebound, you can play team defense, just communicating and I know I have to bring all that to the table for my team. I think I did that and I think all the guys chipped in. Everyone did their part and we got a good win today."

Passaretti and Altenord also finished in double-figures on the night. Passaretti registered 10 points and a team-high six assists, while Altenord added 12 points with three rebounds. Stephane Etheart led the Bears with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds.

SUNY New Paltz have 11 days until its next contest when it travels to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to compete in the Cruzin Classic against Randolph College and Wartburg Dec. 21 and 22, respectively.

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