Poughkeepsie, NY — After more than 10 days since its last contest, the State University of New York New Paltz resumed play Friday night as it entered day one of the annual Hudson Valley Classic Tournament, taking on hosting Vassar College. The Hawks got out in front and held off a run by the Brewers to improve to 2-0 on the year following a 79-71 win.
 
Isaiah Rivera gave SUNY New Paltz a much-needed spark off the bench, as the freshman scored a team-high 17 points with six rebounds and three assists on 6-for-8 shooting in 22 minutes to lead his team on the night. He saw the floor with 11 minutes to go in the first half and immediately made a difference, ripping down a defensive board and connecting on his first attempt in the paint for an and-1. Rivera then provided a helper on the next play to Dakoda Smith to extend the Hawks lead to 18-11 with nine minutes to go in the half.
 
Rivera gave SUNY New Paltz its largest lead of the half with eight minutes remaining before the break, hitting on another in the lane following a miss by Vassar. However, the Brewers slowly made their way back to tie at 23-all three minutes later before freshman Trevor Amalfitano hit from 3-point range to re-up the Hawks lead.
 
The Brewers re-took the lead with a minute remaining off a turnover turned 3-pointer, but A.J. Knight answered before the end of the half, making his way through the paint to finish with two to grab SUNY New Paltz a slight, 30-29 advantage.
 
Seven lead changes began the following 20 minutes of play with the Hawks stringing together a 11-0 run to help build a 10-point cushion with less than eight minutes to play, which was capped by a 3-ball from Rivera off an offensive board and assist from Smith.
SUNY New Paltz led by as many as 12 with less than three minutes to go, but Vassar wouldn't go away and slowly got within five with less than a minute left following a made 3. The Hawks held off the rally, able to get to the foul line with Sean St. Lucia, Alex Krupinski and Knight hitting from the foul line in the final seconds to ice the win.
 
Smith provided much needed extra-chance opportunities, pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds including seven off the offensive glass, to go along with two assists, two blocks and one steal. St. Lucia and Knight each added 11 points, two rebounds, two assists and a block with St. Lucia registering a team-high three steals. Lamar Matthews rounded out the scoring for SUNY New Paltz, tallying 10 points off 4-for-7 shooting in 18 minutes.
 
The Hawks return to the court Saturday for day two of the Hudson Valley Classic, tipping-off against hosting Bard Saturday at 6 p.m.


***********
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.