OSWEGO, N.Y. – For the first time since the 2000-01 season, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team prevailed over SUNY Oswego, as the Hawks won by an 83-75 final at Max Ziel Gymnasium in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game Tuesday night.
 
New Paltz's last victory over conference-foe Oswego came on Jan. 20, 2001, when the Hawks won, 68-67, in a nail-biter in Oswego, N.Y. Since that win, Oswego has dominated the series, winning 20 straight contests.
 
Furthermore, Tuesday's win was the Hawks' largest margin of victory over the Lakers since winning, 84-70, at Elting Gym on Jan. 12, 1999.
 
"It's good to end streaks like that," third-year head coach Mike Rejniak said. "More importantly, though, is that whatever happened in the past happened in the past. This is a huge springboard for us in conference play. We were ahead at the half against Cortland and Oneonta and let the lead slip away, so to come out stronger tonight in the second half, it shows that we learned from past adversities. We came out tonight and executed the game plan the whole 40 minutes."
 
New Paltz rises to 5-7 overall and 2-3 in the SUNYAC. The Hawks next face SUNY Plattsburgh on Friday, Jan. 17, at 8 p.m. at the Hawk Center. Oswego drops to 10-3 overall and 4-2 in the SUNYAC. Up next for the Lakers is The College at Brockport on Friday at 8 p.m.
 
The Hawks took a three-point halftime lead (31-28) and broke open their largest cushion of the night (18) with 10:22 to go in regulation. Oswego chipped away at the deficit little by little, and a 6-0 spurt pulled the Lakers within single digits at 73-64 with 3:42 to play. After a pair of made free throws by sophomore forward Alex Perlman(Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) gave the Hawks a 76-68 edge with 1:36 left on the clock, freshman guard Brian Sortino helped key a 4-1 Oswego run, and a Sortino layup drew the Lakers within four (77-73) with 44 seconds remaining in regulation. Perlman widened the gap once more by going baseline to baseline with a layup, while a series of plays under Oswego's basket resulted in a tip-in bucket by sophomore guard Elijah McLaurin.
 
Forced to foul, Oswego sent sophomore guard Keegan Donovan (Groton, N.Y./Groton) to the line, and Donovan knocked down a pair of free throws. Sortino's hot hand cooled off on a critical possession on the Lakers' next trip down the floor, as he misfired on a three-pointer that caromed into the hands of senior guard Andrew Joseph(Brooklyn, N.Y./High School of Art and Design). Graduate student guard Nick Taldi (Merrick, N.Y./Bellmore JFK) was then fouled, and Taldi iced the game with two made free throws. With the result already decided, McLaurin missed a trey right before the final buzzer, and the Hawks finally came off the Max Ziel Gymnasium floor with a victory.
 
The first half saw an even battle, with the two teams going point for point. New Paltz opened up its largest lead of the half (6) twice with around seven minutes to go in the first half, but the Lakers wound up seizing the lead twice before the intermission. A one-point Oswego lead evaporated with a made free throw by sophomore guard Zach Cone-Douglas (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) with 40 seconds left in the half and a three-pointer by Donovan right before the buzzer. New Paltz went into the locker room up, 31-28, marking the fourth straight game in which it led through 20 minutes of play.
 
New Paltz shot an even 50 percent from the field, going 30-of-60. The Hawks buried 50 percent (6-of-12) of their three-point shots in the second half to finish with a 40.9 percent (9-of-22) mark from distance, and New Paltz forced Oswego into 13 turnovers that turned into 19 points. Oswego saw significant action at the foul line, going 24-of-38 (63.2 percent), and the Lakers dominated the glass with a 45-33 margin in rebounds.
 
In what will likely go down as the signature game of his career, Taldi came off the bench to score 24 points, a total that was just one point shy of his career high. Perhaps Taldi's greatest value to the Hawks' offense on Tuesday came with his efficiency; Taldi shot 8-of-10 from the floor, 5-of-6 from three-point range and 3-of-3 from the line. Junior guard/forward Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) joined Taldi in double figues with 18 points, and Sowah shot 7-of-10 from the floor. Joseph provided a blue-collar stat line that included a career-high seven assists, six points, six rebounds and three steals, while junior guard/forward R.J. Rosa (Marlboro, N.Y./Sullivan West) came down with a team-high eight rebounds and added four points, three assists and a steal.
 
Oswego was led by Sortino, who scored 31 points, 15 of which came at the charity stripe. Junior forward Rashawn Powell and sophomore guard Kyle Covley helped key the attack as well, pouring in 14 and 13 points, respectively. Powell finished with a double-double, grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds, and he also chipped in with three assists and two blocks.
 
Coach Rejniak believes that the team must focus on each game at a time rather than worrying about the amount of intensity Oswego will come out with when the two teams meet up again a week from today at the Hawk Center.
 
"The biggest thing is that you can't look ahead," Rejniak said. "You can't look ahead on the schedule or during the games. We have to take everything game by game and possession by possession. Our team knows that [Oswego] will come out gunning for us, but so will Plattsburgh and Potsdam this weekend."