Cortland, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz overcame a nine-point hole entering the second half of action Tuesday night against hosting SUNY Cortland.
 
The Hawks (13-3 overall, 7-2 SUNYAC) tightened up defensively and held the Red Dragons to just 30 points on just 2-for-7 from behind the arc in the final 20 minutes to help come away with an 83-73 win and earn the season sweep.
 
A triple by Solomon Neuhaus gave SUNY New Paltz a slight 19-17 advantage midway through the first half but Cortland scored seven unanswered, which helped swing momentum down the stretch. AJ Knight helped bring the deficit down to four in the final minute, earning a steal on the defensive end and then finishing at the hoop on the other, but the Red Dragons scored on their last two possessions including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to push the lead to 43-34 into the break.
 
Knight, who had another stand-out performance after leading his team to a win over Plattsburgh Saturday, started an 11-0 run for the Hawks as he finished with contact at the hoop to trim the score back to single digits three minutes into the half. Alex Krupsinksi and Sean St. Lucia followed as they both finished strong in the paint as well leading to Cortland's first timeout with 15 minutes left.
 
The break didn't help the Red Dragons, as SUNY New Paltz earned a stop and St. Lucia capitalized with two points on the offensive end on a great hustle play. Off a miss from Kobe Bogart, St. Lucia saved the loose ball from going out of bounds, throwing a pass from the baseline out to Dakoda Smith to keep the play alive. Smith then saw the mismatch inside for St. Lucia and he took advantage with another basket in the paint to get his team within two. Krupinski then hit from 3-point land to officially get SUNY New Paltz back the lead, but the two teams traded advantages until about 10 minutes left when Knight found Ethan St. Lucia underneath for two, which pushed the score to 56-55 Hawks.
SUNY New Paltz never trailed from that point forward, keeping Cortland at bay the rest of the way. RJ Meyers-Turner gave the Hawks a nine-point lead as he got his high arcing trey to bounce in on a soft touch off the rim with about six minutes left, but the Red Dragons scored next time down on a three-ball as well to bring the difference back down to six.
 
Cortland fought to get the score to a one possession game with about four minutes to go before the two teams traded baskets leading to a 71-69 score with three minutes left. Smith came up with a huge offensive rebound off an initial miss by Sean St. Lucia as he tipped the ball out to Knight who calmly swished the straight-on 3 with about 2:30 remaining.
 
The Red Dragons found room to work and hit at the basket next time down, but again Knight came up clutch and swished from nearly the same spot outside the arc, extending the lead to 77-71 with less than two minutes left with Sean St. Lucia picking up the assist out of the double team. That all but put the game away as Knight put the finishing touches on the win from the foul line as he made 6-for-6 in the final minute to ice the victory.

Knight led all scorers with 25 points on 7-for-15 shooting in 37 minutes, while going 3-for-3 from 3-point range and hitting 8-for-9 from the foul line, while adding seven rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal. Krupinski followed with 15 points off the bench, shooting 6-for-9, while adding two rebounds, an assist and two steals.
 
Bogart and Sean St. Lucia rounded out SUNY New Paltz's offensive leaders with the latter finishing with 12 points, four rebounds and a team-high five assists, while the former tallied 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting with five rebounds and a steal.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action this weekend when it hosts Buffalo State and Fredonia on Friday and Saturday, respectively, in the Hawk Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 and 4 p.m.

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