Fort, Lauderdale, FL — The State University of New York at New Paltz opened up its first game of the Cruzin Classic Tournament Saturday at the Broward County Convention Center against Randolph College (VA) and came away with an 86-73 loss.
 
"We didn't shoot well today and gave up too many uncontested 3's," said Hawks coach Keith Kenney.
 
SUNY New Paltz (3-5 overall) cut down on its turnovers, which it had struggled with in its last few games and also limited the Wildcats to just 38 percent from the field. However, they couldn't stop Randolph behind the arc, as it shot 44 percent from 3-point land after making 12-of-27 attempts.
  With the Hawks offense struggling to get going to open up the game, the Wildcats took advantage and got out to a 46-34 halftime lead. SUNY New Paltz made just 12 shots in the first 20 minutes, knocking down 1-for-6 from 3.
 
The Hawks managed to trim the lead down to nine or less three times in the following period, but couldn't rally from the large deficit. Randolph made sure to stay aggressive in the paint and got to the foul line 20 times in the second half, making 17, which allowed it to maintain the advantage and ultimately pull away for the win.
 
Isaiah Bien-Aise scored a team-high 13 points off the bench in 25 minutes, while adding eight rebounds. Tristan Wissemann followed with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Scott Reisert, RJ Meyers-Turner and Brandon Scott added seven points apiece.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action Sunday to conclude the Cruzin Classic against Wartburg College for a 12 p.m. tip-off.

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