New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team hosted the first night of the Hudson Valley Tournament Friday in the Hawk Center, playing in the late game against Vassar College.
 
The Hawks (0-2 overall) led for only 47 seconds throughout the contest but continued to stick around even overcoming as large as a 17-point deficit deep in the second half to cut the score to a basket with less than a minute to go, but untimely rebounding and late fouls allowed the Brewers to come away with the 77-73 win.
 
SUNY New Paltz trailed for most of the first half but took its first lead following a 3-pointer in the corner by Solomon Neuhaus, which capped off a 13-2 stretch that started following a Hawks timeout with five minutes to go in the half.

Meyers-Turner got the run started, making his way through the paint and finishing at the hoop with Rylan Blondo quickly adding two more after earning the ball back on a steal off the Brewers ensuing inbound underneath the basket. Blondo added two more points a possession later, fighting for the offense board and getting his put-back to go to cut the score 23-19 with four left. Isaiah Bien-Aise and Meyers-Turner knocked down back-to-back shots before Neuhaus' 3 in the corner, which gave SUNY New Paltz the one-point advantage with 2:30 remaining before the break.
 
 
Vassar ended the half on top by one, however, as it responded to the Neuhaus bucket with a 3-ball of its own on the following possession and after misses from the perimeter and a put-back by Bien-Aise and Blondo, respectively, the Brewers added two by Zach Johnson on the offensive end. Neuhuas hit from behind the line once again with a minute still remaining to cut the edge to one at 30-29, but neither team made another basket before the halftime whistle and Vassar went into the locker room with the slight one-point edge.
 
"I think the energy level was low to start both halves and we played catch up too much," said Hawks coach Keith Kenney. "We got back into it by being aggressive and taking better shots."
 
The Brewers held the momentum opening up the second and quickly pushed their lead to seven, despite Tyreik Frazier's effort on the defensive end for the Hawks. The 6-foot, 6-inch sophomore got up and recorded blocks on four-straight offensive possessions for Vassar and totaled nine in the game, just one shy of tying a single-game program record.
 
"Tyreik did some great things on the defensive end and got us going by blocking those shots," Kenney said. 
Despite Frazier's dominance around the rim, SUNY New Paltz struggled in retaining possession with the Brewers capitalizing on second and third chance opportunities on offensive rebounds and went up by 12 with 14 minutes remaining. 
 
Vassar held its largest lead of the game at 17 with more than six minutes left. Despite the large deficit, the Hawks continued to grind and, propelled with a pair of blocks by Frazier, got back into the game. Bien-Aise instigated an 11-2 stretch with a strong bucket in the paint. A steal by Sean St. Lucia led to an easy fast-break lay-in by Blondo with Neuhaus hitting another from the perimeter following a Brewer turnover to get the game to 10. Another turnover by Vassar was answered on the other end with two points by St. Lucia before Ethan Ellis ended the scoreless run for the visitors with a trip to the foul line. Meyers-Turner worked his way into the paint to trim the deficit back to eight and the Brewers turned the ball over once again with Bien-Aise capitalizing on the offensive end for two.
 
Following a free throw made by the Brewers, Blondo quickly ran the floor for a layup in transition, cutting the game to five, but Vassar got back to the foul line and hit both attempts to balloon the lead to seven with two minutes remaining. Meyers-Turner knocked down a 3-pointer in transition to keep the game alive with 17.5 seconds left, but Vassar continued to hit at the foul line and offensive rebound to eat up time and put the game away.
 
"We did not rebound well enough to win," Kenney said. "The offensive rebounds hurt us, especially on the last couple possessions."
 
Meyers-Turner led SUNY New Paltz with 21 points off the bench to go along with three assists and two steals. Neuhuas and Blondo followed with 12 points apiece. Frazier was a block and a point away from a double-double, finishing with nine and nine on an efficient 4-for-6 from the field. Neuhaus, meanwhile, also had a productive shooting night, hitting 4-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-8 from 3-point range, while Blondo shot 6-for-13 from the field. St. Lucia did a little of everything for the Hawks, ending with seven points, seven assists, eight rebounds and one steal.
 
SUNY New Paltz concludes the Hudson Valley Tournament Saturday with Mount Saint Mary College playing hosts on day two. The Hawks are set to face Bard College at 4 p.m. in the Knights home gym.

Hawks vs. Vassar Game Highlights


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