New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team opened up its 2021-22 season Wednesday in the Hawk Center and got out to a hot start, but couldn't maintain its cushion against visiting Farmingdale, as the Rams came back to steal a 68-61 win away from the Hawks on opening night.
SUNY New Paltz (0-1 overall) jumped out to a 13-2 cushion after
Solomon Neuhaus and
Isaiah Bien-Aise knocked down back-to-back 3's — the latter coming in transition following a Rams turnover — which led to the first timeout of the contest by Farmingdale (1-2 overall) four minutes into the first half.
The Hawks continued to roll, as
Tyreik Frazier ignited the home bench and crowed with a dunk to extend the lead 17-9 with about 13 minutes left in the half. The Rams scored four quick points off turnovers to dig into the hole, which grew to as many as 15 eight minutes later, cutting the deficit 30-19 that led to SUNY New Paltz's first timeout of the game.
The Hawks struggled out of the break, turning over the ball with a shot clock violation, then two straight misses on consecutive offensive possessions, which allowed Farmingdale to creep back in, 30-21 with about four minutes to go.
RJ Meyers-Turner put an end to the stretch, slicing through the paint and finishing at the rim to get the SUNY New Paltz lead up to 11. The Rams got back within seven with less than two minutes before the half and again Meyers-Turner answered for the Hawks, getting to the rim on back-to-back offensive possessions, earning a trip to the line where he made 1-of-2 and an easy bucket underneath to push the score at 35-27 with a minute to go.
Gallery: (11-17-2021) Men's Basketball vs Farmingdale State
Jackson Vertucci then helped balloon the SUNY New Paltz lead back to 10 after earning a steal off Farmingdale's in-bounds play underneath, leading to a quick two for the hosts. However, the Rams ended the half with a lay-in at the buzzer to get the deficit to single digits heading into the second half, which swung momentum as the two teams entered their respective locker rooms.
"I don't think we played particularly well in the first half either. We just hit open shots," said SUNY New Paltz coach
Keith Kenney. "I do think we did play a little faster in the first half and that led to some easy looks. Second half we just played a little slower. A little more tentative and that kind of let their defense sink in and led to us not getting as easy shots as we did in the first half."
The Hawks still maintained a 13-point edge with about 13 minutes left, but Kobe Thomas started a 9-0 run for the Rams on a basket underneath, followed by a trip to the foul line where he made 1-of-2. Going without a point for nearly five minutes, Meyers-Turner put an end to the drought for the hosts after getting into the paint and finishing at the rim, pushing the score to 55-50 Hawks with about eight minutes to go. Back-to-back turnovers allowed the Rams to cut into the lead once again, with Tre Riggins hitting a 3-pointer, followed by a dunk after another miss by SUNY New Paltz on the offensive end, to tie the game at 55. Farmingdale took its first lead two minutes later, as Jevon Santos got to the line, making both to push the Rams out in front, 57-55.
The Hawks tied the score at 57 and then 59 before both teams went scoreless until
Rylan Blondo earned a trip to the foul line to help SUNY New Paltz re-gain its lead after two made free throws at 61-59, but Farmingdale countered with a trip to the charity stripe on its next possession and the game was knotted once more with about 2:30 left. The Hawks struggled to hit front the paint on their next three possessions and was forced to foul as time winded down after Dominique Senat countered with five unanswered points for the Rams.
"We definitely didn't end the first half well. I don't know if that led to anything [into the second half], but we played much slower," Kenney said, "We didn't run our stuff correctly. We had too many guys play tentative. We didn't really keep up the aggression like we did in the first half. It started in the end of the first half."
With less than two minutes to go and down by three, the Hawks tightened up their defense at half court and forced Farmingdale into a bad pass, leading to a steal by Bien-Aise to gain the ball back, but they couldn't capitalize on the other end. Blondo missed from the perimeter and although SUNY New Paltz forced another Farmingdale turnover off more solid defense leading to a traveling violation, it couldn't add points to the board. The Hawks turned the ball over on their following offensive possession and the Rams hit from the line to ice the game and close out on the seven-point win.
"I am sure they are nervous, and we do have young guys, but every teams like that. Farmingdale is exactly the same. They have guys that have never played as well. We just didn't execute. We complained about the referees too much. We just didn't play our game," Kenney said.
SUNY New Paltz shot nearly 46 percent from the floor and from 3-point range in the first half but dropped its totals to 33.3 percent from the field and just 10 percent (on 1-for-10 shooting) in the second half, turning the ball over 21 times in the game.
Neuhaus led the Hawks with 15 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the field and 3-for-8 from 3. He was followed by Blondo, who finished with 14 points, 11 of which came in the first half, to go along with five rebounds and an assist. Bien-Aise was the only other Hawk in double figures, ending with 13 points, two assists, two rebounds and a team-leading four steals.
"We just need to get better on the offensive end," Kenney added. "We didn't run our stuff well at all like we have been practicing the last month, so we just have to clean that up for Friday and Saturday. I think the focus will be more on the offensive end."
SUNY New Paltz has a day's rest before its next matchup as it enters the first day of the Hudson Valley Tournament Friday. The Hawks are set to face Vassar College in the Hawk Center at 8 p.m. before facing Bard College Friday on the campus of Mount Saint Mary College at 4 p.m. Saturday.
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