Fredonia, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz overcame a 19-point first half deficit to collect a 78-67 win over hosting Fredonia Friday night to earn its third consecutive victory.
 
The Hawks looked at a 27-8 deficit 12 minutes into the game, as they missed 16 of their opening 18 shots, but they slowly started chipping away to end the half. SUNY New Paltz got a much-needed spark off the bench by Amir Hughes and Oumar Sy. The two combined for 10 of the team's 18 points to end the first period.
 
Hughes subbed in around the six-minute mark and immediately made an impact, grabbing a defensive board before aggressively attacking the hoop to earn a trip to the foul line where he made both attempts. Sy then kicked out to Hughes on the next Hawks offensive possession on the perimeter and the first-year drilled a triple to get his team within single digits at 30-21 with just more than five minutes remaining before halftime.
 
Sy ran the floor and earned a pair of free throws following a Thomas Keane steal on the defensive end. Sy then bullied his way on the block to finish strong for two and cut the score 34-27 with less than four minutes left. Sy picked up a steal a minute later and returned to the charity stripe where he made 1-of-2 to create a two-possession game before LaMar Matthews and Andrew Leonard knocked down consecutive 3's to get the game within a basket. Fredonia had the final points of the half to create a 37-34 deficit, but the visitors continued its momentum built into the second half.  
Mo Sylla tied the score at 43-all for SUNY New Paltz following a made 3-pointer, coupled with a make in the paint five minutes into the half. Trevor Amalfitano knotted the score again at 45-45 after the Blue Devils re-took the lead next time down the floor. The two sides were tied three more times and exchanged leads once until Sy buried a triple to push his team ahead, 53-50 and the Hawks never trailed from that point forward.
 
Matthews started taking over to help SUNY New Paltz to its own double-digit cushion. Matthews finished in transition off an assist from Sylla to start a 6-0 run. He rose up and pulled down an impressive one-handed defensive board before going coast-to-coast for the transition basket. Sylla then made the nifty defensive play, poking the ball free from behind on the next defensive possession that led to another fast-break bucket by Matthews forcing the Blue Devils into a timeout halfway through the second.
 
Matthews made back-to-back pull-up jumpers from the foul line, which was followed with a transition bucket on a steal from Sylla that allowed the visitors to extend its lead, 72-57. Sy found Matthews once more, leading to the Hawks' biggest advantage of 17 with six minutes left.
 
Fredonia got as close as 11 down the stretch, but Matthews kept the hot hand and connected on back-to-back jumpers to keep SUNY New Paltz with a comfortable cushion. The Hawks defense did the rest in the final three minutes, limiting the hosts to only one basket, which only came in the final seconds.
 
Matthews and Sylla led the way for SUNY New Paltz. Matthews had his best game of his collegiate career, efficiently scoring a career-high 25 points on 12-for-16 shooting in a full 40 minutes of action, while adding seven rebounds, two assists and a steal. Sylla tallied his first double-double of the season, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists and a game-high four steals. Sy was the only other Hawk in double-figures, tying a career-high of 12 points off the bench in 20 minutes played, adding two rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
Sy led a much-needed Hawks bench, which provided 24 points in a combined 24 minutes played. SUNY New Paltz also played a solid defensive game, forcing 23 Blue Devils turnovers off 12 steals while scoring 19 points on the break and 34 points in the paint.
 
The win pushed the Hawks to 5-8 overall and 3-3 in the SUNYAC, while dropping Fredonia to 1-12 and 1-5, respectively. SUNY New Paltz is back in action Saturday, traveling to Buffalo, NY to face the Bengals of Buffalo State for a 3 p.m. matchup.
 

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