NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – A made jumper by Sean Michele with 54 seconds left gave SUNY Oswego (13-3, 6-3 SUNYAC) its first lead since Kyle Colvey handed the Lakers the advantage at 15:41 of the second half, and Oswego rode it out in the final minute to defeat the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team (6-10, 4-5 SUNYAC), 80-78, in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game Tuesday night at the Hawk Center.

After Michele missed the continuation shot on that jumper with 54 seconds remaining, he grabbed his own rebound, prompting an Oswego timeout. Colvey missed a three-pointer after running down the shot clock, and senior forward Matt Devine (Manalapan, N.J./Freehold Township) grabbed the defensive board. Devine misfired on a shot with five seconds left, and Hayden Ward came up with the rebound, forcing the Hawks to foul him and send him to the line. Ward made his first free throw before missing his second, and senior guard/forward Shereef Taylor (Hyde Park, N.Y./Franklin D. Roosevelt) pulled down the rebound with just three seconds to go. Taylor sprinted to midcourt and tried to shoot through traffic, but his shot came up short.

New Paltz started the game on a 7-0 run before Oswego countered with its own 7-0 spurt. After a Chris Gilkes layup made the score 16-11 in favor of Oswego with 13:24 remaining in the first half, New Paltz went on a 14-3 run, which was capped off by a made three-pointer by Taylor. Taylor's three gave the Hawks a six-point lead (25-19) midway through the stanza. Oswego bounced back, though, ending the period on a 25-11 lead. A half-court heave at the buzzer by Daniel Ross helped give the Lakers a 44-36 cushion heading into the locker room.

Back-to-back threes to start the second half drew the Hawks within one, and after Gilkes scored on a tip-in bucket, freshman forward Kevin Roach (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) and junior guard/forward Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) scored back-to-back baskets to tie the tally at 46-all. Colvey's three-pointer at 15:41 of the second half was the last lead the Lakers saw until the very end of the contest, and New Paltz constructed its largest edge of the game with 4:53 to go, as Taylor extended the Hawk advantage to nine. The Lakers wound up coming back, though, largely behind Gilkes' eight points in the final five minutes.

Taylor scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Hawks, while Devine netted 20. Three New Paltz players tied for the game-high in rebounds with six, and Taylor posted two blocked shots.

For Oswego, Colvey led the way with 29 points, which he scored off 10-of-18 shooting from the floor—including a 7-of-14 mark from long range. Gilkes added 16 points, while Michele had six assists.

The Hawks shot 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the floor, including a 45.5 percent (10-of-22) showing from distance. Oswego hit 50 percent (16-of-32) of its shots from the field in the first half en route to shooting 40 percent (26-of-65) for the game. Furthermore, the Lakers hit 12 three-pointers. New Paltz shot 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the line, while Oswego was just 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the charity stripe. New Paltz outrebounded Oswego, 36-29, but the Lakers committed just five turnovers all game.

New Paltz looks to get back in the win column on Friday, Jan. 25, as it travels to SUNY Geneseo for an 8 p.m. SUNYAC tilt.