New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz couldn't build off a hot first-half start Tuesday against conference rival Oswego State and dropped its fourth State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYA) game of the season.
 
For the second-straight outing, the Hawks had a turbulent end of the opening 20 minutes after getting out in front early. Despite earning a nine-point lead within the first five minutes of the game, they succumbed to the defending SUNYAC champion Lakers, 84-59.
 
"It's two games in a row where the second part of the first half we just stopped playing the way we did that allowed us to get the lead or have the game tied like it was against Oneonta on Saturday," said SUNY New Paltz coach Keith Kenney. "In the second half we pretty much played both teams even, so I think the easy answer is that we weren't sharing the ball during that time. There were a lot of turnovers that led to really, really easy baskets."
 
The Hawks built a nine-point lead over Oswego (10-2 overall, 4-1 SUNYAC), as they took advantage inside the paint. The Lakers missed five of their first six shots of the game, but two 3's by Liam Sanborn got the team on the board and cut into the deficit with 12 left in the half. SUNY New Paltz clung onto the advantage until mid-way through the first when Brandon Gartland answered with a trey, which extended a 12-point run for the visitors. The Hawks never re-gained the lead from that point forward and the Lakers finished out the half on a 26-10 stretch that gave them a 21-point cushion at the break.
 
 
"The first part of the first half we were defending well. We were making good decisions. In the second part of the first half we weren't," Kenney said. "They are too good of a team and are just going to take advantage of that. It was really just that stretch."
 
SUNY New Paltz got as close as 17 in the second half, but never really threatened the lead. Although they had some good stretches, they found themselves in early foul trouble and put Oswego in the bonus with nine minutes to go. The Lakers made sure to take advantage, and connected on 11-of-12 from the free throw line in the final 10 minutes to help close out the win.
 
"I think we had pockets of times where we were defending really well, but then we'd foul and they are such a good free throw shooting team," Kenney said. "The field goals from both teams were pretty even. It just really came down to they really got to the free throw line a lot more than us because of our fouls and they also I think had six more 3's. That added up to what ended up as the difference in the game."  
The Hawks shot above 41 percent from the field, but struggled from 3-point range, connecting on just 5-of-20. They also had trouble at the foul line, making just 6-of-14 attempts. The Lakers, meanwhile, sank 19-for-25 from the charity stripe and played a fairly clean game, only turning the ball over 10 times on the night, while SUNY New Paltz had 21 turnovers, which the opposition turned into 28 points.
 
Tristan Wissemann paced the Hawks offensively with 17 points to go along with five rebounds and one assist. Scott Reisert followed with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks, while Jake Passaretti added 11 points, four rebounds and a steal.
 
The loss puts SUNY New Paltz at 0-4 in the State University of New York Athletic Conference and last in the conference standings. It has another important SUNYAC weekend coming up, however, against SUNY Geneseo and The College at Brockport and two wins can place them right back into the playoff hunt.
 
"We basically just said that our goals of getting to the playoffs and competing are still in front of us," Kenney said. "No one is going to feel sorry for our selves. We just need to work harder and get better each day. It's pretty much that simple… I believe in this team and I believe they can do it."

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