The State University of New York New Paltz picked up an 82-76 win over visiting Cortland Friday night in the Hawk Center.
The Hawks improved to 9-4 with the win and 5-1 in the SUNYAC, while the Red Dragons dropped to 6-8 and 5-2, respectively.
SUNY New Paltz had a jolt with fifth-year point guard Sean St. Lucia back in the rotation, as he came off the bench and provided his team with 12 points, six rebounds, three steals and a team-leading four assists in 25 minutes. Senior guard A.J. Knight finished as the Hawks’ leading scorer, recording 18 points, followed by Dakoda Smith with 15 points and a team-leading eight rebounds with three assists. Isaiah Rivera added 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Knight gave the Hawks their first lead of the game since the opening minutes, overcoming a nine-point deficit, with four-straight points to lift his team ahead, 25-24 with four minutes to go in the half. The two teams then traded leads seven times before Cortland ended the half with five straight points to go up, 37-34 at the break.
Lucas Seyoum swished from the perimeter on a find by Rivera to give SUNY New Paltz a 45-43 lead four minutes into the second half. Rivera capitalized on a turnover by the Red Dragons on the ensuing possession before Seyoum earned a steal in the paint, which led to two points for Knight on the other end to extend the Hawks lead to six with 15 minutes remaining.
The Red Dragons got within one twice down the stretch but never got back in front with the Hawks holding off Cortland with timely baskets by Smith and St. Lucia. The lead ballooned to as many as 10 for SUNY New Paltz, but the visitors climbed back to within four with less than four minutes left. Knight connected on a 3-pointer off a find by Smith to create a two-possession game with 2:45 remaining. A pair of free throws brought the difference down to three with a minute left leading to a timeout by Hawks coach Keith Kenney. He drew up a play out of the timeout which led to a huge make from 3-point range by St. Lucia that brought his team’s lead up to six.
Cortland had one last revival of life with a swish from 3-point range with less than 20 seconds remaining. The Red Dragons were forced to foul to slow the game down, but Knight was clutch from the line as he made both attempts. He made another two following a missed 3 as he got hit after grabbing the defensive board to solidify the win.
SUNY New Paltz scored 20 of its points off turnovers and added 48 points in the paint, while shooting 47 percent from the floor, nearly 38 percent from 3-point range and made 16-for-19 from the charity stripe, including all three free throws off two technicals called on the Red Dragons.
The win also pushed the Hawks atop the SUNYAC standings, as they hope to improve on that record and extend their winning streak to three Saturday when they host SUNY Morrisville at 4 p.m. in the Hawk Center.
