New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz earned a season opening win on its home floor Tuesday night, handily taking care of visiting United States Merchant Marine Academy, 92-65.
 
"I felt like it was a good home win. We put in a good team effort," said Hawks junior guard RJ Meyers-Turner. "Other team played hard, but I felt like we came out strong and we got it done today. We got a good team effort overall from everybody."
 
SUNY New Paltz looked at a five-point deficit in the opening few minutes of the game and got a spark off the bench from Meyers-Turner, Jonah Bevacqua and Brandon Scott as the three aided in a 9-4 run that pushed the hosts out in front and never relinquished control from that point forward.
 
"Coming off the bench, I feel like I just need to bring more energy to the team," Meyers-Turner said. "Whatever we're lacking when I wasn't in, I just feel like I need to bring that when I'm coming in. If we're not playing good defense, then I need to come in and play more defense. If we're not scoring, then I need to come in and contribute to that too, so whatever is missing I feel like that's what we have to come in and do."
 
 
The 6-foot, 8-inch Bevacqua worked in the paint to give SUNY New Paltz a one-point advantage still with 13 minutes left in the first half, and, after the Mariners answered on the next possession, Scott gave the Hawks back the lead following an offensive rebound, attacking the basket and finishing with his right for the bucket. Lucas Seyoum helped add on with a corner 3-pointer following a defensive stop, but Merchant Marine responded again with a 3 of its own. But SUNY New Paltz started to roll and built a nine-point cushion in the following three minutes capped by a trey in transition by Meyers-Turner.
 
The Hawks ended the half with all the momentum as they finished the opening 20 minutes with the last points of the period after Meyers-Turner found Tyreik Frazier on a nice feed inside to earn the bucket and foul with 2.3 seconds remaining, helping SUNY New Paltz to a 41-30 halftime lead.
 
Frazier opened up the second half with an exclamation point dunk in transition, which ignited the crowed and set the tone for the rest of the game with Seyoum adding onto the momentum with a swish from behind the arc in transition to create a 20-point difference.  
The Hawks built a cushion as large as 37 following a finish inside by Frazier with 11 minutes to go and they sustained the advantage throughout the rest of the game with the Mariners only cutting the score to as tight as 22 with two minutes left on an and-1 in transition.

With the large lead, SUNY New Paltz played some of its young talent off the bench including freshman Oumar Sy who topped off a signature win for his team with seven points and a steal in the final three minutes to help solidify the 92-65 outcome.
 
The Hawks got balanced scoring in a 92-point offensive performance with Meyers-Turner leading the team with 17 points in 19 minutes, while adding three assists, two rebounds and a team-leading three steals in 19 minutes off the bench.

"I feel like I played well. It was a good team win, but I felt like I just had to get back in my groove," Meyers-Turner said. "I got in rhythm, and I got hot. It was fun. It was a fun thing to do tonight."
 
Rylan Blondo followed with 15 points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes on an efficient 7-for-14 shooting night. Frazier ended with 14 points, three rebounds and a game-high four blocks. Seyoum also finished in double-figures, adding 12 points and six rebounds. Scott in 20 minutes off the bench led the team on the boards with nine rebounds, while registering three assists and a steal. Bevacqua chipped in with six points, six rebounds and a block in 19 minutes.
 
Overall, SUNY New Paltz's bench out-shot the Mariners bench, 45-13 in the game with the Hawks having a strong shooting performance all around, hitting 49 percent from the floor. They also dominated on the boards, pulling down 16 offensive rebounds and ultimately out-rebounded Merchant Marine, 45-30 while registering 20 second-chance points. SUNY New Paltz also kept the Mariners from getting any rhythm offensively as the visitors finished just 34 percent from the field, including a lackluster 4-for-16 from 3-point range.
 
"It was more so just locking in on defense. If we run, we run, but if we get stops it's going to lead to transition so it was pretty much tit-for-tat," Meyers-Turner said. "[The season-opening win] was huge for our confidence I can say that. It goes a long way. We have a long season, so a good, early win is a good start."
 
The Hawks continue their non-conference schedule on the road Friday, as they face Skidmore College for a 7 p.m. matchup.

Post-Game Interview Featuring RJ Meyers-Turner


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