NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Despite outscoring Hamilton College, 25-16, in the second half to force overtime, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team's 2014-15 season debut was spoiled by the Continentals in the five-minute overtime period, as the Hawks fell, 58-55, in front of a raucous home crowd at the Hawk Center.

In a game that featured back-and-forth play throughout, New Paltz made a run late in the second half, reversing a 51-47 deficit into a 52-51 lead on the strength of a 5-0 run. Freshman guard Dylan Balducci's (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) 3-pointer capped off the scoring spree with 2:21 left in regulation. The Continentals reclaimed the lead with 1:12 left, as sophomore guard Kyle Pitman knocked down a jumper, but senior guard/forward Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) made the back end of two free throws to knot the game at 53-all with 23 seconds left.

Following a New Paltz timeout, Hamilton milked the clock all the way down to two seconds before senior guard Joseph Lin misfired on a jumper, and Sowah grabbed the rebound to force the overtime session.

Pitman kicked off the overtime period by scoring on the Continentals' first possession, and after more than three minutes of scoreless play, junior guard Jack Donnelly made two free throws to make it a four-point game. Junior forward/center Alex Perlman (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) got fouled and hit two free throws on the Hawks' next trip down the floor with 1:10 remaining, and despite forcing the Continentals into a turnover on their next possession, New Paltz was unable to hit the tying bucket. Hamilton made 1-of-2 foul shots on its next possession, and New Paltz could not knock down the tying 3-pointer, giving the Continentals the season-opening road win.

New Paltz drops to 0-1 and visits cross-river rival Vassar College on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. Hamilton rises to 1-0 and hosts Polytechnic University next on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m.

It was a low-scoring affair from the get-go, with the first field goal coming 2:13 into the game and the second one coming 5:22 into the contest to give Hamilton a 4-1 lead. The Continentals seized a 12-7 lead off a Pitman 3-pointer before New Paltz went on a 7-0 run, and a Perlman layup gave the Hawks a 14-12 lead. The two teams traded baskets until Hamilton went on an 8-1 scoring spree to enter the locker rooms up 37-28.

A 6-0 spurt midway through the second half pulled the Hawks within two points of the Continentals at 42-40, and that ultimately set the stage for the stretch run that would occur 10 minutes later.

Neither team shot particularly well from the field, with Hamilton shooting 30.8 percent (20-of-65) and New Paltz shooting 29.0 percent (18-of-62). The Continentals held a 54-45 edge in rebounds but were plagued by 23 turnovers.

Sowah led the Hawks with a double-double, dropping in 13 points while adding a career-high 14 rebounds. Perlman provided a spark off the bench, scoring a game-high 17 points off 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and 2-of-4 shooting from the line in 26 minutes of action. Defensively, junior forward Kevin Roach (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) and sophomore guard Eric Regenbogen (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) each finished with four steals.

For Hamilton, Lin scored a team-high 14 points in 32 minutes coming off the bench, while Pitman and Donnelly added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Freshman guard Jack Dwyer handed out six assists, while Pitman, Dwyer and Lin all had eight rebounds.