New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz clinched its first win of 2023 Friday night in a complete performance over visiting SUNY Cortland, defeating the Red Dragons, 95-81 in the Hawk Center.
 
The Hawks (8-7 overall, 6-3 SUNYAC) put an end to a five-game losing skid with the victory, while handing the Red Dragons (12-5, 7-3) their third consecutive loss and gaining ground in the top-3 of the SUNYAC standings now behind Brockport, No. 20 Oswego, who they'll see Saturday, Cortland and Oneonta — with the latter two having now at least one win against.
 
"It feels good, definitely," said SUNY New Paltz junior guard Rylan Blondo. "We were in a little slump, so this was great mentally for our confidence. We knew we could do it. We just needed to see the results. We needed a win, so now to move further on we just need to focus on the next game."
 
Blondo had one of his best outings as of late against the Red Dragons Friday night in the Hawk Center, missing just three of his 11 attempts from the floor and connecting on 3-for-4 from 3-point range to total a team-high 23 points, while leading the Hawks with a game-high eight assists to go along with seven rebounds, flirting with a triple-double outing.
 
 
"I knew they were going to put three guys on me and focus on me driving, so I just wanted to focus on making the right play and I got some shots going," said Blondo who helped SUNY New Paltz to a 10-point lead at the half with 13 points and five assists at the break. "My teammates, they found me early so I got a little rhythm to end the first half and I just brought that in with confidence in the second half, and just tried to stay with an aggressive mindset throughout the whole game."
 
Cortland hung around to begin the second half after trailing by double-figures, as six-straight points by Kareem Lubin and Austin Grunder got the visitors within seven with 16 minutes remaining in the game. Tyreik Frazier, who finished with a career-high 19 points, ended the stretch with a strong put-back, finishing around the basket and earning the foul that propelled a 12-0 run, which gave the Hawks their largest lead of the game at 73-54 with just more than 11 minutes left.
 
The Red Dragons chipped away and got within nine after Grunder swished back-to-back contested jumpers with just less than four minutes remaining. Sean St. Lucia stalled the rally, as Brandon Scott snatched his own offensive board and kicked out to St. Lucia in the corner who buried the 3-ball while getting hit to earn the four-point play. After a stop on the defensive end, Isaiah Bien-Aise answered for SUNY New Paltz with an and-1 on a tough finish in the paint to extend the advantage to 15 with 2:30 to go. In frustration, the Red Dragons were hit with a technical and gave two free points to Blondo who connected at the line, all but putting the game away with the lead pushed to 17 and time ticking down.
 
The Hawks had their most efficient shooting performance of the year, shooting a season-best 62.1 percent from the field and a staggering 54.2 percent (13-for-24) from 3-point range. Nearly half of their points came in the paint with their front court taking advantage of a mismatch in the game, as bigs Frazier, Bien-Aise and Jonah Bevecqua combined for 44 points and 17-for-23 from the floor.  
"That's what we expect from them," Blondo said. "They can do that every night, so seeing it helps us out because we're a very great team and our bigs and guards are getting hot and putting the ball in the basket, so shoutout to Tyreik, Zay, Jonah. The came in, great minutes, played hard and got us that win for us today."
 
Frazier was perfect from the field, going 8-for-8 with each basket coming in the paint, while adding six rebounds, two blocks and an assist. Bien-Aise finished with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting with nine rebounds and a steal, while Bevacqua scored eight points in 12 minutes, going 2-for-2 from 3-point range with two rebounds. St. Lucia rounded out SUNY New Paltz's top scorers with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists.
 
The Hawks hope to build a winning streak as they return to the floor Saturday to face No. 20 SUNY Oswego at 4 p.m. in the Hawk Center.

Post-Game Interview with Rylan Blondo


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