PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Down 21 points with 14:23 to go in regulation, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team mounted a rally, going on a 15-0 run. Despite drawing within four points with just more than six minutes on the clock, the Hawks were unable to complete the comeback in a 90-78 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) loss to SUNY Plattsburgh Saturday at Memorial Hall.
 
Junior guard/forward Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) and sophomore forward Kevin Roach (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) helped fuel the Hawks' surge in the second half, as each scored 13 points in the final 20 minutes of play. During New Paltz's 15-0 spurt, the pair accounted for 11 of the Hawks' 15 points. As New Paltz continued to chip away at the deficit, it was Roach who pulled the Hawks within four, sinking a pair of free throws with 6:35 to go in regulation.
 
Plattsburgh put the game out of reach by responding with a 7-1 run, and a three-pointer by junior guard Mike Mitchell gave the Cardinals an 11-point edge. New Paltz kept digging in, as it went on a 5-0 spurt, but the margin swelled back up to double digits a minute later. The Cardinals maintained the double-digit edge down the stretch due to their ability to make free throws; Plattsburgh went 6-of-6 from the line in the final minute.
 
New Paltz drops to 6-13 overall and 3-9 in SUNYAC play. The Hawks look to return to the win column on Tuesday, Feb. 4, as they square off with SUNY Cortland at 8 p.m. on the road. Plattsburgh rises to 15-3 and 9-2 in the SUNYAC. The Cardinals look to avenge a January loss to nationally-ranked The College at Brockport on Friday, Feb. 8, on the road at 8 p.m.
 
The Hawks found themselves playing catch-up once again, as Plattsburgh scored the first points of the game and took a 20-9 advantage early. Graduate student guard Nick Taldi (Merrick, N.Y./Bellmore JFK) and sophomore forward Alex Perlman (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) cut the lead to single digits twice midway through the period, but the Cardinals opened up a 14-point lead after a tip-in bucket by sophomore guard/forward Xavier Thomas. The Hawks went on a 5-0 run to trim the margin to single digits once more, and another 5-0 surge—which was capped by a Taldi trey—made it a five-point game with just 1:10 before halftime. Mitchell hit a three and senior forward Shavar Fields knocked down two free throws to put the Cardinals back in front by 10, but sophomore guard Keegan Donovan (Groton, N.Y./Groton) made 2-of-3 foul shots with two seconds left on the clock to push the score to 46-38 in favor of Plattsburgh.
 
The Cardinals torched the nets coming out of the locker room, as they received five straight points in the first 1:04 of the new stanza. A 10-0 Plattsburgh run that lasted nearly three minutes gave the Cardinals that 21-point lead with 14:23 left in the second half, setting the stage for New Paltz's attempt at a comeback.
 
While the Hawks' interior game helped ignite the second-half rally, they were hurt by 1-of-11 shooting (9.1 percent) from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes of the game. New Paltz shot 40.9 percent (27-of-66) from the floor for the game, and it kept the contest close due in part to 81.8 percent (18-of-22) shooting from the line. Plattsburgh won the game on the glass, gaining a 46-35 edge in boards and earning 18 second-chance points. The Cardinals also shot 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from long range.
 
Sowah fell just two points shy of his career-high, scoring 24 points, and he completed the double-double with 10 rebounds. Donovan backed up his virtuoso performance from Friday with a 17-point afternoon against Plattsburgh, while Roach netted a career-high-tying 13 points—all of which came in the second half—coming off the bench.
 
Plattsburgh received a balanced scoring effort that was led by junior guard Shamoy McIntosh's 23 points. Fields added 19 points, while sophomore guard Edward Correa and junior forward Ezra Hodgson chipped in 11 points apiece. Hodgson's total came in 20 minutes coming off the bench. Field grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to finish the double-double, while the SUNYAC's top distributor, senior guard Chris Manning, doled out four assists and also had four steals.