New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team took advantage of a strong start and ran away with a win against Buffalo State in the Hawk Center Friday. The Hawks led for more than 36 minutes of the 40 minute game and wound up with an 88-70 victory in front of the home crowd.

The Bengals (7-15 overall, 5-11 SUNYAC) did not make the win an easy one for SUNY New Paltz (12-9 overall, 7-7 SUNYAC), as the two teams entered the second half in a 40-36 barnburner.

The Hawks came out into the second half with a fire, opening up play on an 11-0 start. Once the momentum was on SUNY New Paltz's side, it refused to give up control. The Hawks continued to extend their lead, and a Nick Paquette layup with just more than eight minutes remaining gave SUNY New Paltz its largest lead of the night at 25. The shot incited, "Let's go Hawks!" chants from the home fans.  

Buffalo State didn't give up, narrowing the lead down to 15 at one point, but SUNY New Paltz stayed up until the clock hit zero, confirming an 18-point win for the Hawks.

The difference in strategies for the two squads was night and day. For the visiting Bengals, they did their best to find open 3's and jump shots, playing to their strengths. Only 28 of Buffalo State's 70 points came in the key, with 24 coming from behind the arc (8-of-18). 

SUNY New Paltz acknowledged Buffalo State's success from deep after the first half, leading to a shift in defensive attack for the second.  

"We emphasized guarding the 3-point line in the second half," said Hawks coach Keith Kenney. "We guarded the 3-point line well, and I think that's why we held it down."

On the defensive end, the Bengals came out in a smoldering 2-3 zone, trying to exploit a weakness of poor shooting from SUNY New Paltz. Much to the Bengals dismay, the Hawks found the holes in the Buffalo State's zone and the host squad pounded down low, scoring 54 of their points inside the paint.

"We talked about getting to the basket," Kenney said. "No matter if it was Scott [Reisert] or our guards, we emphasized not settling for jump shots and getting to the rim."

The Hawks spread the wealth in the victory, with five different players scoring in double figures. Leading the team was guard Jake Passaretti, who finished with 19 points, followed by Tristan Wissemann (16) and Reisert (14). Senior guard Cory Garcia also came up big for SUNY New Paltz. He stuffed the stat line with 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

For the Bengals, it was a strong performance by big man Kay Grant, who had a near double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Right behind him was guard Sheldon Adams, who dropped 16 points, with nine coming off of threes, before fouling out late in the game.

SUNY New Paltz will look to remain in the win column Saturday when they host Fredonia State at 4 p.m, as they try and complete their second consecutive series sweep of the weekend. 

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