NEW YORK – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team (8-13) hung tough in a 73-61 non-conference loss to 16th-ranked New York University (18-2) on Tuesday evening at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center. Junior forward Matt Devine (Manalapan, N.J./Freehold Township) led the Hawks in scoring with 23 points.

The Hawks turned the ball over just nine times, but they were limited to 39.1 percent shooting (9-of-23) from the field in the first half. On the contest, New Paltz shot just 42.6 percent (20-of-47) from the floor, while NYU shot at a 49.1 percent (28-of-57) clip. The Hawks, who are usually near-perfect at the free-throw line, shot just 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from the charity stripe. New Paltz kept the game close in spite of NYU doubling its rebounding total, as the Violets held a 40-20 margin on the glass.

Devine added four rebounds, two assists and one steal to his stat line, while senior guard forward Harris Wichard (Merrick, N.Y./Bellmore JFK) scored 17 points off 6-of-12 shooting from the floor—including a 4-of-7 mark from distance—and 1-of-1 shooting from the free-throw line. Freshman forward/center Alan Siergiej (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by-the-Sea) paced the Hawks on the boards with a team-high five rebounds and added two blocks.

For the Violets, Andy Stein controlled the pace of the game with 20 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Kyle Stockmal contributed 19 points, which included a 5-of-9 performance from three-point land, while Max Wein also reached double figures with 10 points. Stockmal added six assists, a game-high, while Wein had three steals.

Wichard led the Hawks early in the game, scoring 14 of the team's first 20 points and sending New Paltz to an early 20-16 lead.  NYU countered with an 11-0 run, but New Paltz held the Violets to a close margin of 33-27 at the half. Siergiej hit a layup with 1:30 remaining in the first half to trim the deficit to six, and the Violets missed three straight three-pointers to keep the Hawks within reach.

In the second half, the Hawks kept up pace with the Violets behind an early surge in points from Devine, keeping the margin to merely four points at 42-38 before NYU went on a decisive 10-2 run to open up a 52-40 lead. Devine scored three straight points to bring the Hawks within seven, but NYU responded with a 7-0 run, and a three-pointer by Stockmal pushed the Violet advantage to 14. New Paltz trailed by 18 with 31 seconds to go, but freshman guard/forward Matt Pierson (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions—including one at the buzzer—to salvage a 12-point defeat.

New Paltz faces a tough test this weekend, as it hosts SUNY Cortland on Friday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. on Think Pink Night before entertaining No. 18 SUNY Oswego at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, on Senior Day.