New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz fell to visiting No. 6 SUNY Oswego Tuesday night in the Hawk Center, 92-70.
 
The Hawks dropped to 10-3 overall and 4-2 in the SUNYAC, while the Lakers improved to 13-1 and 7-0, respectively.
 
The game was tight in the first half with SUNY New Paltz holding a lead with two minutes left before following a made triple by A.J. Knight. Oswego ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 41-35 lead at the break and quickly built off the stretch at the start of the final 20 minutes of play.
 
Knight answered a second half opening bucket by the Lakers, getting to the line on a driving layup. After sinking both from the charity-stripe, the difference was trimmed to six once more, but the Lakers started getting hot from the perimeter and established a double-digit cushion within a one-minute span on makes from the arc by Julien Crittendon and Jeremiah Sparks.  
 
 
Kobe Bogart and Sean St. Lucia broke up the run with makes in the paint, but SUNY New Paltz continued struggling on limiting the Lakers from behind the arc. They ultimately knocked down 11-for-24 from 3-point range, eight of which came in the second half, allowing Oswego to establish a 20-point lead midway through the half following another trey by the Lakers' Kaleb Cook.  
Rylan Blondo ran the floor and earned a trip to the line where he made both attempts with less than four minutes left with Dakoda Smith following with a make in the paint off a feed from Blondo to bring the score down to 83-68, but Oswego answered with a 9-0 run to end any hopes of a late comeback for the Hawks.
 
SUNY New Paltz knocked down nearly 43 percent from the field but shot just 5-for-28 from the perimeter while scoring 46 of its final 70 points in the paint. Meanwhile, the Lakers made 55 percent from the field and connected on nearly 46 percent from 3-point range.
 
Blondo led the Hawks with 24 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in 33 minutes while shooting 10-for-18 from the field. Knight followed with 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting with five rebounds a team-leading four assists and two steals in 33 minutes.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action Friday and Saturday, hosting Potsdam and Plattsburgh in the Hawk Center, respectively. Tip-off against the Bears is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. against the Cardinals the following day.

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