Danbury, CT — The State University of New York at New Paltz moved onto the championship round of the Hat City Tournament Wednesday after defeating tournament hosts Western Connecticut State University, 86-79 Wednesday.
 
The Hawks (5-3 overall) finished with its most efficient offensive performance of the season, making 34-of-59 attempts from the floor for nearly 58 percent shooting, including knocking down 11-of-18 from 3-point range.
 
"They are such a good defensive team we had to shoot well," said SUNY New Paltz coach Keith Kenney. "I was happy with our poise. We didn't settle for shots. We moved the ball and got great shots."
 
After the Hawks took the initial lead to start the game, a 7-0 run pushed WestConn in front, 10-5. Solomon Neuhaus ended the streak, hitting his first of four 3's in the outing to trim the deficit to two for SUNY New Paltz. Both teams looked to push early, and the game was sped up within the first 10 minutes of the game. Neuhaus answered with another 3 in the same spot he hit earlier and got the Hawks within one at 14-13. 
SUNY New Paltz started gaining momentum with RJ Meyers-Turner and Isaiah Bien-Aise contributing off the bench. Meyers-Turner tallied five-straight points to get his team ahead, 22-16. WestConn re-gained the lead after hitting a 3 to push them in front, 40-39. Neuhaus answered again for SUNY New Paltz, draining his third 3-pointer of the game to put the Hawks back up, 42-40. Lucas Seyoum added on a play later, aggressively attacking the basket to draw the foul and earning a trip to the line where he connected on both attempts. After a basket by WestConn, Seyoum got his mid-ranged jumper to go as time winded down in the half before the hosts trimmed the deficit to 46-44 at the break.
 
"I thought we were undisciplined at times defensively in the first half," Kenney said. "We were not in right positions, and we got caught in some bad switches, and they scored everything in the paint. We got a little better in the second half and made a few adjustments."
 
Sean St. Lucia helped stretch SUNY New Paltz's lead to as many as seven early in the second half following a 3, but WestConn continued to stick around. After a bad pass by St. Lucia in the front court, the hosts scored on the other end to trim the deficit to 60-57 leading to a timeout by the Hawks.
 
Out of the timeout, the two teams traded consecutive turnovers in a sloppy minute-plus, which ended with an easy bucket underneath by WestConn following a turnover from Rylan Blondo to cut the score, 65-63 midway through the half. SUNY New Paltz slowed down the pace on its next possession, which led to a trip to the charity stripe by Bien-Aise who hit 1-of-2 to push his team's lead to 66-63. WestConn quickly responded with a made 3 by Matthew Turner to knot the game at 66-all with about nine minutes to go. Dakoda Smith rushed back down the floor for SUNY New Paltz and swished a 3-pointer of his own, but Turner answered once again with another trey to tie the score at 69.
 
But, WestConn went cold from there, as the Hawks held the hosts without a basket for the next six minutes, as they built a seven-point cushion. WestConn finally broke the scoreless streak after getting into the penalty with 5:52 remaining in the half, as Turner connected on both attempts of a 1-and-1. With WestConn gaining some momentum, Frazier came up with a huge block, meeting Joe Brown at the rim to deny the bucket and keeping the lead at five with five minutes to play.
 
Seyoum extended the advantage to six after getting to the foul line on the next offensive possession for SUNY New Paltz, but WestConn earned a trip to the charity stripe next time down the floor and connected on 1-of-2 to get the score back to five.
 
Neuhaus arguably hit his biggest shot of the game with just more than three minutes to go, knocking down a corner 3 as the shot clock expired with WestConn working hard to trap the Hawks in the opposite corner. The made 3 gave SUNY New Paltz its largest lead with 3:33 to play, but WestConn wouldn't go away. Less than two minutes to play, Turner, coming off a screen, swished a straight-on 3-pointer to cut score, 82-79. WestConn immediately went into its press, but the Hawks maintained composed, moved the ball and broke through the pressure, which led to an easy basket down the floor by Neuhaus.
 
SUNY New Paltz held on from there with WestConn missing on an open 3 less than a minute to go. Seyoum picked up the rebound, forcing the hosts to intentionally foul. WestConn got another look, this time contested in the corner, which was air-balled. WestConn picked up the offensive rebound, but the Hawks' pressure forced a turnover with Blondo grabbing the loose ball and St. Lucia hitting at the foul line with less than 10 seconds to play to close out the game for SUNY New Paltz.
 
"We did well versus their pressure somewhat and made timely defensive stops," Kenney said. "Tyreik had a big block and Blondo had a big steal at the end to seal it."
 
SUNY New Paltz had balanced scoring across its lineup with five players scoring in double-figures. Neuhaus led the way with 18 points in 32 minutes, shooting 7-for-10 from the field, including 4-for-5 from behind the arc. Blondo followed with 16 points, connecting on 7-for-14 with four rebounds and seven assists. Seyoum hit all four attempts from the floor for 13 points to go along with six rebounds, two assists and a block. Frazier followed with 12 points, six rebounds and a block. St. Lucia added 10 points, four rebounds and six assists.
 
The Hawks return to the campus of Western Connecticut State University Thursday, playing in the championship game the winner of Cabrini and William Patterson at 11 a.m.

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