Newburgh, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz elevated its undefeated record to 3-0 Friday as it defeated the Vassar Brewers 76-65 to open up the Hudson Valley Tournament with a victory.

The game began neck and neck, with points scored on both sides. Vassar played with offensive intensity, having both driving ability and shooters behind the arc, but the Hawks' lineup was just as skilled as the Brewers from tip-off. 

Halfway into the first at the 16-14 mark, Alex Krupinski put up a made jumper to start SUNY New Paltz on a scoring run, which Dakoda Smith punctuated with a fast-break layup off a steal, getting his team to their 10th unanswered point. to push the lead, 24-14. 

After a timeout by the Hawks, Vassar began to chip away at SUNY New Paltz's newfound lead and were able to close the score gap within two. Krupinski then sunk a three to secure a more comfortable lead for the Hawks, 27-22. The Brewers responded and ended up tying and then overcoming the Hawks' lead, making the score 37-34 going into halftime. 
The second half started with a jumper from Lucas Seyoum, which got SUNY New Paltz within one but the Brewers scored directly after, keeping their lead at 39-36. Five minutes into the second SUNY New Paltz worked its way up, and a 3-pointer from Sean St. Lucia cut the score difference to one point once again, 43-44. After the Brewers layed one in, St. Lucia stole the ball and was fouled on his way to the basket. He sunk one free throw to trim the score 46-44. Not even a minute later the senior captain had the ball in his hands again, and scored from inside the paint, tying the game at 46-46. 

The next few points were back and forth, but another jumper from Seyoum with less than nine minutes left gave the Hawks the boost of momentum they needed to pull away. Smith scored another fast-break layup, and Seyoum followed with two made free throws, putting SUNY New Paltz up 63-55. Despite Vassar's best efforts in coming back, the game ultimately ended with the Hawks sinking six free throws in a row for a final score of 76-65. 

St. Lucia led the charge for the Hawks, putting up 16 points and grabbing five rebounds. He was followed closely by Seyoum who had 14 points and two steals for SUNY New Paltz. A.J. Knight crashed the boards and led the team with seven rebounds.

SUNY New Paltz is back in action for its latter game of the Hudson Valley Tournament Saturday, hosting Bard College at 6 p.m.

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