Potsdam, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz ended the regular season with an upset road victory over SUNY Potsdam Saturday night, holding on to defeat the Bears, 100-96.
 
Potsdam clinched the No. 2 seed in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC), but the Hawks spoiled its senior day with the victory to sweep their weekend finale.
 
SUNY New Paltz took a nine-point lead into halftime and held on to the cushion until Aaron Armstrong laid in a bucket in the paint for the Bears with about 14 minutes to go in the game. Jake Passaretti tied the score at 62 for SUNY New Paltz a few plays later, but Potsdam countered with a 12-2 run to go up by 10 with 11 minutes to play. The Hawks worked their way back to tie at 76 following a layup by Tyreik Frazier with Frazier then re-taking the lead for his team a play later after earning a trip to the foul line and making both.
 
With 1:05 on the clock, Scott Reisert drove baseline and got his reverse lay-in to go after it circled around the rim and dramatically dropped through the net for two to put the Hawks up three. The Bears immediately answered though, quickly getting down the floor and into the paint. Jayquan Thomas finished at the hoop and earned a shot at the free throw line after a foul was called, tying the score at 91 after successfully finishing the traditional 3-point play.
 
SUNY New Paltz dribbled the ball over mid-court and called a timeout to get the ball out of bounds near their bench. Tristan Wissemann capitalized out of the break, working over a screen and knocking down his shot from beyond the arc to push the Hawks ahead, 94-91 with about 40 seconds to play. Again, the Bears didn't waste any time to answer and ran the length of the court to cut the score to one with 30 seconds left.
 
The Hawks were sent to the foul line for a 1-and-1, but missed the opportunity and Potsdam capitalized on the ensuing possession with Isaiah Brown driving through the lane for a layup to give the Bears a 95-94 advantage with about 17 seconds remaining. SUNY New Paltz didn't waste any time to get the ball out either however, and Jake Passaretti smartly drove down the floor and earned a foul to put him on the line. He was clutch and made both attempts to bring the score to 96-95.
 
Following a timeout, the Bears took the ball out underneath their own basket and broke through the Hawks' press to again get a look inside the paint. Brandon Scott was called on the foul and Brown was sent to the foul line. He missed both shots to keep the difference to one and Passaretti took care of the rest for SUNY New Paltz. The junior made sure to get the ball in his hands and the Bears were forced to foul, which put him on the charity stripe where he made 4-for-4 in the final three seconds to secure the win for his team.
 
"Lot of contributions from a lot of guys," said SUNY New Paltz coach Keith Kenney. "We made clutch plays. Brandon, Tyreik and Rylan [Blondo] gave us a big boost. Tristan had a clutch shot and Jake hit the big free throws."
 
It was the Hawks' highest scoring performance of the season, shooting a season-best 59 percent from the field in the game. Wissemann paced the offense, finishing with a team-high 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field, including 5-for-7 from the perimeter, while adding nine rebounds and three assists. Scott scored a career-high 15 points in 23 minutes off the bench, while adding three boards and an assist. Passaretti and RJ Meyers-Turner followed with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Blondo earned his second career start and finished with five points, two rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes.
 
The Hawks finish their 2019-2020 season 7-18 overall and 3-15 in conference play. 

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