The State University of New York at New Paltz heads into the weekend needing to put an end to its six-game winning streak in order to keep postseason hopes alive. The Hawks have won one game in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play, which came about three weeks ago against Buffalo State who they will see again Saturday. Before they have a re-match against the Bengals though, they have to face the Blue Devils, who are also on the outside of the playoff standings hoping to inch closer to the final spot in the tournament.

"We've been really struggling a lot this year, so just going into this weekend we're just focusing on ourselves," said SUNY New Paltz senior forward Matt English. "Trying to take care of the little things, the things that we have been messing up all year. We just want to make sure that everything we can control we do well and that it is all taken care of."

The Blue Devils (7-15, 3-12) head into the weekend also on a losing skid, falling in their last seven outings since defeating the Hawks Jan. 25, 86-72 in the Hawk Center. All seven losses have come against conference opponents. The most recent was Tuesday on the road against The College at Brockport where they lost, 104-57 – their worst margin of defeat of the season.
 

When the two teams met in the Hawk Center in late January, SUNY New Paltz took a slight five-point lead at the halftime break, but struggled defensively in the second half and let up 50 points to the visitors, allowing them to shoot 72 percent from the field, as they connected on 18-of-25 attempts.  

Senior guard Tyler Roberts and senior forward Moussa Samassa each scored 20 points in the win, while Samassa also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds to register a double-double. Junior guard Dydy Bryan followed with 19 points, while senior guard De'Quan Smith added 17 on the day. All four have led Fredonia all year, averaging double-figure points. Bryan is its leading scorer, totaling about 14 points and five rebounds a contest.

"For beating Fredonia, our main key is to just keep guys in front of us," English said. "Last time we got beat too much off the dribble and we just want to play as tough and as physical as them, and just make sure we can keep them in front of us."
  After losing 12-straight, the Bengals put an end to that streak with a win over Plattsburgh Feb. 8 to secure their second SUNYAC victory of the season. Their only two conference wins have come against the Cardinals and Blue Devils, and have lost to every other team including the Hawks. They are most recently coming off a loss against the Knights Feb. 11 who are currently in the mix at the No. 6 seed in the playoffs.

Four of SUNY New Paltz's five starters finished with double-figure points in the win over Buffalo State, led by seniors Tristan Wissemann and Scott Reisert who combined to play 57 minutes. Wissemann finished a productive shooting performance by hitting on 9-of-15 from the floor and 6-of-8 from 3-point range to finish with a game-high 25 points, while Reisert recorded his second double-double on the season after totaling 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bengals came back from a 17-point deficit to tie the game, but the Hawks never panicked and answered with a 15-2 run that opened up the game midway through the second half, which cemented the, 83-64 SUNY New Paltz win. Junior guard Jordan Christopher led Buffalo State in the game with 17 points, and on the season has averaged just less than 14 points and nine rebounds per game. Junior guard Sheldon Adams is the team's leading scorer, averaging almost 18 points and five rebounds a contest. SUNY New Paltz limited Adams to just nine points in their first matchup.

"Last time we played Buff State we really handled the pressure well," English said. "They're a fast, physical team. We just have to match that intensity and they're going to make mistakes. We just have to exploit them."

Wissemann, meanwhile, paces the Hawks offensively with 14.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, while shooting just less than 40 percent from the field and 35 percent from behind the arc. Jake Passaretti and RJ Meyers-Turner follow offensively, averaging about 10.7 and 10.2 points per game, respectively. Through last weekend's games, Wissemann is just 32 points shy of reaching the 1,000-point mark. If he reaches that threshold he will join 19 others in program history in the prolific club.

He'll have an opportunity to reach or surpass that total this weekend when he and SUNY New Paltz faces Fredonia Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Dods Hall before taking on the Bengals Saturday in Sports Arena at 4 p.m.

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