ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team (0-1) lost in its 2012-13 season opener on Friday night at the Nazareth Tournament, falling to host Nazareth College (1-0) by a 90-69 final in non-conference action. Senior forward Matt Devine (Manalapan, N.J./Freehold Township) paced the Hawks with 13 points and five rebounds.

Beyond Devine, senior guard/forward Shereef Taylor (Hyde Park, N.Y./Franklin D. Roosevelt) and senior guard Shalik Jenkins (Brooklyn, N.Y./Boys and Girls) contributed 12 points apiece. Taylor keyed the Hawks defensively with a career-high-tying five steals.

For Nazareth, Tyshun Stephens scored a game-high 24 points off 7-of-14 shooting and dished out a game-high 11 assists to post a double-double coming off the bench. Brad Ford (18), Jack Giles (12) and Scott Hayford (12) all chipped in double-digit scoring figures for the Golden Flyers as well. In addition, Ford pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

Nazareth caught fire from the floor, shooting 58.5 percent (31-of-53) from the field. In addition, the Golden Flyers went 18-of-24 from the charity stripe for a 75 percent clip. The Hawks shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the field and 60 percent (9-of-15) from the free-throw line. The Golden Flyers dominated the glass, holding a 40-18 cushion in rebounds. However, Nazareth was slightly more careless with the ball than New Paltz, committing 21 turnovers to the Hawks' 15.

The Hawks came out firing on all cylinders coming out of the gates, as freshman forward Deveino McRae (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac), Devine and Taylor all scored to give New Paltz a 6-0 lead. Nazareth stormed back, though, going on an 11-2 run to capture an 11-8 advantage. A made jumper by Devine and a made layup by freshman forward Kevin Roach (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) helped the Hawks regain the lead at 12-11, but the Golden Eagles scored off a Stephens layup and would not give up the advantage the remainder of the contest.

With the score at 22-17 in favor of Nazareth, the Golden Flyers went on a 9-0 spurt to break open a 31-17 lead with 3:56 to go in the first half. After freshman forward Alex Perlman (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) scored to make it a 12-point game, Mitch Ford hit a layup while Stephens and B. Ford connected on three-pointers to give Nazareth a commanding 20-point edge (39-19). Jenkins capped a 6-0 New Paltz run in the waning moments in the first stanza with a three, but Nazareth scored five points in the final 26 seconds of the period to swell the Golden Flyer advantage to 20 (47-27) heading into the intermission.

Nazareth never allowed New Paltz to gain any sort of momentum in the final 20 minutes of play, and it gained its largest lead of the night (34) four times in the half. Down 30 with 1:47 remaining in regulation, the Hawks staged a rally, scoring nine of the game's final 10 points. With 19 seconds on the clock, freshman guard Zach Cone-Douglas (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) knocked down a pair of free throws, which provided the final margin of 90-69.

The Hawks will face St. Joseph's (LI) College in the Nazareth Tournament consolation game at 6 p.m. tomorrow evening.