The road to SUNYACs ended over the weekend for the men’s and women’s basketball teams at SUNY New Paltz. Over the course of the winter season, both teams worked their way to the pinnacle of conference play — the SUNYAC championship.
The men’s team hosted the 2025 SUNYAC tournament as the No. 1 seed in the conference. The Hawks were given a chance to avenge their pair of conference losses against the Plattsburgh Cardinals in the SUNYAC semifinals on Feb. 28, where the winner would advance to the championship game in the Hawks Center the following day.
The gymnasium was electric as the Hawks and Cardinals took to the floor to begin the semifinal matchup. Plattsburgh immediately showed their dominance offensively but SUNY New Paltz held their own until the end of the first half, battling back from multiple point deficits and tied up Plattsburgh 41-41 going into halftime.
The second half was tight between the teams until the final minutes. With just over 15 seconds left on the clock, the Hawks were down by one point, and graduate student guard Sean St. Lucia inbounded the ball in the hands of fourth-year forward Dakoda Smith. Smith spun around his defender and layed the ball in off the glass for a 73-72 lead as the Hawks crowd erupted in celebration. Smith was fouled on his way up and sank the free throw to extend the lead to 74-72.
Nonetheless, the Cardinals did not quit and attempted a last ditch effort play. Fourth-year Plattsburgh guard Franklin Infante attempted a contested three which missed, but fourth-year forward Ikechukwu Ezike grabbed the board and put the ball up at the buzzer — a shot that found the bottom of the net. The basket was initially called good on the floor, a determination which would have sent the game into overtime. However, the referees deliberated and eventually overturned the call, punching SUNY New Paltz’s ticket to the finals.
The women’s team found success in the semifinals as well. The Hawks entered playoffs as the No. 2 seed, just shy of Cortland’s No. 1 position. As the second seed, SUNY New Paltz earned a bye into the semifinals. The Hawks were set to face the Oswego Lakers — a team which SUNY New Paltz had both defeated and lost to in their two regular season meetings — on Feb. 28 at Cortland.
The Hawks were down early in the first quarter, which ended with Oswego up 14-8. However, SUNY New Paltz gained momentum in the second, regaining the lead over the Lakers and extending its advantage to 26-19 before halftime. The Hawks continued their scoring efforts throughout the final two quarters, and after getting ahead of Oswego earlier, they never let the Lakers regain the lead in the match, with the final buzzer sounding a 66-58 SUNY New Paltz victory.
The Hawks were led by a trio of veteran players, with fifth-year guards Julia Sabatino and Madison Mullman duo shooting 15 points apiece, followed by fifth-year forward Abby Korzekwinski who put up 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Unfortunately, both teams would go on to fall in the SUNYAC finals on March 1, the men’s team losing to Cortland 61-52 with the women’s team also being defeated by Cortland, 68-49. Despite the shortened ending, the teams boasted successful campaigns during the 2024-2025 season. The men finished with an 19-8 overall record and went 14-4 in conference, while the women went 17-10 overall and 15-3 in SUNYAC play.
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