REDLANDS, Calif. – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team closed out the Lee Fulmer Memorial Tip-Off Classic with an 82-60 win over host University of Redlands on Saturday evening at Currier Gym. The Hawks unofficially owned a share of the classic's title with George Fox University, and junior guard/forward Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) and senior guard Andrew Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y./High School of Art and Design) were named to the All-Tournament Team.

New Paltz won the game largely due to efficient shooting from the floor. The Hawks shot at a 52.7 percent (29-of-55) clip for the contest, which included a 63 percent (17-of-27) mark in the first half. New Paltz also returned to its efficient ways at the charity stripe, knocking down 17-of-23 free throws (73.9 percent). Redlands, meanwhile, was hurt by 33.9 percent (21-of-62) shooting from the floor, which included an 11.5 percent (3-of-26) mark from three-point range. The Bulldogs finished the evening with a 15-of-22 (68.2 percent) showing at the free-throw line. New Paltz held a 44-30 edge in rebounds, and 14 of the Hawks' boards came on the offensive glass.

New Paltz is 2-0 for the first time since the 2010-11 season and returns to action next on Thursday, Nov. 21, as it hosts Vassar College in its 2013-14 home opener at 6 p.m. Redlands, the defending Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) champion, drops to 0-2 and hosts San Diego Christian College on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m. (PDT).

It looked as though the game would be a battle early on, as senior guard/forward Eric Radford knocked down a jumper on Redlands' first trip down the floor, and sophomore forward Alex Perlman (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) hit a three to put the Hawks up 3-2. Senior forward Alex Rudd's three-pointer gave the Bulldogs a two-point edge before Joseph knotted the score on New Paltz's next possession. Rudd connected on another trey to hand Redlands a three-point edge, but the Hawks went on an 8-0 run that was capped off by a made jumper by sophomore forward Kevin Roach (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) at 15:19 of the first half.

From that point forward, New Paltz never trailed. Junior guard Connor Griffin cut the deficit to four before the Hawks went on a 10-0 tear that was ended with back-to-back buckets by freshman guard Kewan Beebe (Glen Cove, N.Y./Glen Cove). With a 17-point edge in hand with 2:13 to play in the first half, New Paltz went on a 10-2 spurt—which was capped off by a Sowah fastbreak dunk—and entered the intermission with a 49-26 advantage.

Redlands made a run in the second half, going on a 7-0 tear early in the period to pull within 14. The margin hovered around that mid-teen total until a 6-0 Hawk run late swelled the advantage to 23 in favor of New Paltz. Redlands was unable to stage a comeback in the final few minutes, and the Hawks came out with a Southern California weekend sweep.

Freshman forward Andrew Seniuk (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) scored a career-high 17 points off 7-of-7 shooting from the floor and 1-of-1 shooting from the free-throw line in 21 minutes of action coming off the bench. Sowah and Joseph had outstanding performances as well, dropping in 16 and 14 points, respectively. Sowah's team-high seven boards helped bolster a balanced rebounding effort, while Joseph had a team-high five assists and three steals.

For Redlands, Radford and Rudd paced the attack with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Sophomore forward Aljosa Bjekovic grabbed a team-high five rebounds and dished out a team-high three assists, while Radford helped out defensively with two blocks.