ROCHESTER, N.Y. – After losing its season opener to Nazareth College on Friday night, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team (1-1) responded with a 99-76 non-conference victory over St. Joseph's (LI) College (0-2) in the consolation game of the Nazareth Tournament on Saturday evening at Nazareth's Kidera Gymnasium.

Senior forward Matt Devine (Manalapan, N.J./Freehold Township) led four New Paltz players in double figures, as he netted 30 points off 11-of-20 shooting from the floor and 5-of-5 shooting from the free-throw line. Devine also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Senior guard/forward Shereef Taylor (Hyde Park, N.Y./Franklin D. Roosevelt) also notched a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards, marking the first time since Nov. 18, 2011 that a set of Hawk teammates registered a double-double. Senior guard Shalik Jenkins (Brooklyn, N.Y./Boys and Girls) drained 15 points and dished out five assists, while junior guard/forward Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) scored 12 points and caromed seven rebounds.

For St. Joseph's, Sean McCarthy led the team in scoring with 21 points, while Keith Anderson and Phil Calixte added 18 and 17 points, respectively. Wade Richardson grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, while Calixte handed out five assists and collected seven steals.

The Hawks knocked down 47.4 percent (36-of-76) of their shots from the floor and shot at an 86.4 percent (19-of-22) clip from the charity stripe. St. Joseph's struggled from the field, going 30-of-78 (38.5 percent), and it was hurt by a 42.1 percent (8-of-19) outing from the free-throw line. New Paltz held a 56-40 edge on the glass, but the Hawks also owned the upper hand in turnovers (22-16).

After three-pointers by Devine and Jenkins gave the Hawks a 6-0 lead, St. Joseph's was able to draw back within two (8-6) at 16:10 of the first half with a three-pointer by Richardson. The Hawks took off with a 12-0 run, though, and a dunk by Taylor swelled the New Paltz advantage to 14 (20-6) with 11:58 left in the first half.

The two sides battled back and forth, with the Hawks slowly building on their lead. The high-water mark of New Paltz's first-half performance came with 3:11 remaining in the stanza, as an old-fashioned three-point play by Taylor upped the Hawk advantage to 21 at 44-23. The Eagles went on a 14-2 spurt to close the first half, though, and they cut their deficit to single digits. A made jumper by Anderson made the score 46-37 in favor of New Paltz heading into the intermission.

A 12-2 scoring spree to open the second half gave the Hawks a large edge once again, with another Taylor old-fashioned three-point play capping the rally. Behind four points from Calixte, St. Joseph's went on a 9-0 run, and a few minutes later, a McCarthy three made it a five-point game at 62-57 with 11:47 remaining in regulation. New Paltz continued to try to put the game away midway through the second half, but St. Joseph's kept itself within striking distance. An 11-0 spurt during the final 10 minutes, though, helped the Hawks break open an 18-point cushion, and New Paltz continued to rise until freshman guard Zach Cone-Douglas (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) gave the Blue and Orange its largest lead of the night at 25 (99-74) with a made free throw with under a minute to play. The Eagles' Brady Coucci connected on a jumper with 10 seconds left on the clock, and the Hawks let the final ticks run out to finalize the victory.

New Paltz faces non-conference Mount Saint Mary College in its 2012-13 home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m.