The SUNY New Paltz men’s basketball team fell to SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Plattsburgh this past weekend, but defeated the St. Joseph’s-Brooklyn Bears on Tuesday.
On Dec. 6, the Hawks lost 83-70 against the Potsdam Bears. Third-year guard Jake Passaretti earned the first two points for the Hawks with a fastbreak layup at 18:18, but the Hawks were held down by the Bears until 14:44 when third-year guard Richard Altenord scored a layup in the paint. At this point, however, the Bears were now leading 13-4.
The Hawks flew to the net to catch up to Potsdam, as fourth-year center Nick Arthur dunked the ball. First-year guard RJ Meyers-Turner followed with a 3-pointer at 13:55 and Altenord finished with another layup. New Paltz now trailed only 13-11.
Meyers-Turner hit another 3-pointer at 11:06, but after a foul from Potsdam’s third-year forward Dante Viscovich, Meyers-Turner tallied another two points in good free-throws, tying the score 18-18. Fourth-year forward Tristan Weissemann hit a 3-pointer for the Hawks at 8:30, giving them a one-point lead 21-20. Four more points were earned by Weissemann in the remainder of the period, along with four from Passaretti and another 3-pointer from Meyers-Turner.
Finishing with a final layup from fourth-year forward Scott Reisert, the Hawks trailed the Bears 42-35 going into the half. After 10 two-pointers scored throughout the second half, with two 3-pointers from Meyers-Turner and Weissemann and a total of 11 scored free-throws, the Hawks couldn’t catch up to Potsdam, and lost 83-70.
The next day, the Hawks returned to the Hawk Center to verse the Plattsburgh Cardinals.
Passeretti started off the game at 19:30 with a 3-pointer for the Hawks. Arthur, Weissemann and Turner all tallied points for the Hawks in the first 15 minutes of game play. With the Hawks trailing 25-14, Isaiah Bien-Aise snagged a layup at 5:19. First-year guard Rylan Blondo subbed in at 7:15 and scored a fastbreak jumper at 4:58.
Passaretti hit a 3-pointer at 4:09 followed by Blondo with another at 1:42, but unfortunately it was not enough for the Hawks to push past the Cardinals, who won the half 34-26. The Cardinals finished the game 81-60.
On Tuesday, Dec. 10, the Hawks came back yet again to the Hawk Center against the St. Joseph’s Brooklyn Bears, defeating them 67-61 and ending their three-game losing streak.
Reisert led for the Hawks earning 14 points throughout the match, while Wissemann close behind at 13 points and Altenord with 12. New Paltz led against St. Joseph’s with 20 points earned in the paint, whereas they only had 14 in the first half.
In the second half, the Bears scored 12 in-the-paint points to New Paltz’s eight. Against the Bears, New Paltz had their best defensive game, as usually the Bears tally almost 75 points per game.
“We needed it really bad,” Wissemann told the Athletic Communications office. “We had the momentum going the other way. It was going against us and we have a pretty long break until our next game, so it is good to have some momentum going our way with a little one-game winning streak going into our games in Florida.”
The men are back in action on Dec. 21 and 22 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the Cruzin Classic.
