The New Paltz Men’s Basketball Team followed their 89-75 win against SUNY Fredonia with yet another good game. On Friday, Feb. 11, the Hawks took on No. 14 Oswego and managed to win by one point.
The match kicked off with a jumper from second-year forward Lucas Seyoum, and he followed that good work with two 3-pointers to bring the Hawks to an early lead. Oswego stayed diligent, though, and capitalized off of free throws to tie the game 8-8. This would end up being the theme of the night, with both teams tying and retying the event.
Second-year guard Sean St. Lucia was there to contribute layups, as well as second-year forward Tyreik Frazier. Even with their performances, though, Oswego had a small lead over New Paltz, until there was just under nine minutes left: third-year forward Isaiah Bien-Aise cut the New Paltz deficit to one.
New Paltz ended the first half with a 37-35 lead. They managed to get ahead with help from third-year guard/forward Brandon Scott, second-year guard/forward Solomon Neuhaus and first-year guard/forward Dakoda Smith.
Oswego tied the game 37-37 just a second into the start of the second half, and kept that lead the majority of the time. When there was 4:21 left in the game, the score stood 60-56, Lakers. New Paltz would have to work hard and fast if they wanted to win this game.
Scott decided to be the hero of the day. Two layups and two free throws gave New Paltz the lead with just over two minutes to go: but it wasn’t over yet. Oswego got a layup to take the lead yet again.
With just 15 seconds left, Scott, yet again, made a layup. The Hawks won 64-63, beating Oswego for the first time since 2015.
Unfortunately, the Hawks were unable to extend their winning streak to three the next day against Cortland, but that is not to say that they weren’t formidable competitors.
A lot of Friday’s patterns carried over, with Hawks capitalizing off of many free throws, layups and jumpers. In fact, New Paltz ended the first half with a 31-30 point lead.
In the second half, the game slipped away from the Hawks when the Red Dragons got multiple 3-pointers and fifteen points off of free throws. The final score of the game was 82-71, Cortland.
New Paltz has two more games left in their regular season. On Friday, Feb. 18, Plattsburgh is coming to Hawk Center, and the next day at 4 p.m., Potsdam will be competing against the Hawks. After those games, New Paltz will begin the first round of the SUNYAC Tournament, so it’s crucial to see how they perform this weekend.
