Brooklyn, NY — An explosive first half propelled the State University of New York at New Paltz past hosting St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn Wednesday night with the Hawks holding off the Bears, 80-75.
 
SUNY New Paltz led by as many as 24 in the game, which came following a dominant first-half effort where it scored 51 points on 53 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range.
 
St. Joseph's-College Brooklyn opened up the game in a zone defense, which the Hawks picked apart quickly. Isaiah Bien-Aise was a perfect 5-for-5 in the first half and got the offense going with a made 3 on SUNY New Paltz's second offensive possession. The next time down the floor, Lucas Seyoum took advantage of the space given and knocked down a 3-pointer of his own. The Hawks then scored on the next two possessions after Blondo secured a steal in the front court, finishing end-to-end and then hitting on a corner 3 to force the Bears into their first timeout of the game. 
SUNY New Paltz went scoreless for two-plus minutes following the timeout until Seyoum knocked down another from the perimeter to bring the Hawks lead to 16-8, which started a 9-0 run capped off by Seyoum again in the corner to force another SJCB timeout. A turnaround jumper by the Bears' Chris Williams broke up the scoreless streak for the hosts to get the deficit down to eight, but RJ Meyers-Turner quickly responded, swishing from behind the arc to get the lead back to double-figures.

With about four minutes to go, SUNY New Paltz went on a 13-5 run to end the half, which was started with a steal by Seyoum. The caused turnover led to a transition bucket by Solomon Neuhaus on a nice touch pass by Bien-Aise. The Hawks continued to up the tempo with Blondo pushing the ball up the floor and finding an open Neuhaus for another trey to extend the lead. Bien-Aise and Blondo scored on back-to-back plays with Bien-Aise capping off the run by burying his third shot from distance to give the Hawks their largest lead of the half.
 
Neuhaus answered after the Bears got their first bucket in nearly four minutes to help SUNY New Paltz to a large 51-31 advantage at the break.
 
"We just hit wide open shots with no hesitation in the first half and got great looks," said Hawks coach Keith Kenney. "Second half we didn't shoot as well, but our looks weren't as good. I think we over passed, but I was disappointed on the defensive end. I didn't prepare this team well enough tonight on that end."
 
SUNY New Paltz overcame a second half run by the Bears with the hosts slowly chipping away at the lead to get within two down the stretch.
 
Blondo knocked down a corner 3-pointer early in the second, but from that point forward SJCB out-scored the Hawks 14-3 in the following five minutes to get within six with about 7:20 to play. Bien-Aise helped push the cushion back to double figures with a 3 as the shot clock was expiring to boost the advantage to 76-65 with about 4:10 to go, but the Bears answered on the other end to cut the difference back down to single digits. 
SJCB earned a trip to the foul line, making both to inch closer to the lead and after a miss by SUNY New Paltz, the Bears earned another made basket on a tough turn around hook shot off the glass to bring the score to 76-71 with two-plus minutes to go. With less than two minutes left, Chris Mikos knocked down a 3-pointer to get within two points leading to a timeout by Kenney. The Hawks held down the lead from there, bending but not breaking, not allowing SJCB closer to taking control of the score.
 
Blondo pushed the lead to four, hitting on a mid-ranged jumper off a screen with less than a minute to go. The Bears had an opportunity next time down the floor, but the attempt by Mikos was off the mark but an off-ball foul put the hosts on the foul line as SUNY New Paltz was in the penalty. Richie Simon made 1-of-2 for his team and Bien-Aise picked up the rebound for the Hawks forcing SJCB to intentionally foul with less than 30 seconds to go. Blondo hit his attempts at the line and the Bears couldn't connect on the opposite end with time winding down to close out the 80-75 SUNY New Paltz victory.
 
"We're young and getting wins in the name of the game," Kenney said. "We know we can play with anybody and we will get better."
 
Blondo scored a career-high 23 points on an efficient 9-for-13 shooting from the field and 3-for-7 from 3-point range. The Brooklyn, NY native also added two steals, three assists and a team-leading seven rebounds in a homecoming effort that saw a large crowed of SUNY New Paltz supporters in attendance. 
 
Bien-Aise followed with 18 points, finishing 7-for-10 from the floor, while adding six rebounds, two assists and one steal. Neuhaus was the only other Hawk in double-figures, registering 10 points. Sean St. Lucia finished with a team-leading six assists to go along with six points. Seyoum added nine points, four rebounds, two assists and a team-leading three steals.
 
SUNY New Paltz has a long hiatus before its next outing when it enters the Western Connecticut State Holiday Tournament Dec. 29 and 30.

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