Box Score

GENESEO, N.Y. – Despite holding a two-point halftime lead, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team was unable to hang on in the second half against SUNY Geneseo in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game Saturday afternoon at Schrader Gymnasium, as the Hawks fell, 79-68, in their 2013-14 season finale.
 
New Paltz received 20 points from its bench, including 11 from graduate student guard Nick Taldi (Merrick, N.Y./Bellmore JFK). Taldi, who scored his 1,000th career point yesterday against The College at Brockport, finishes his career with 1,013 points. The Hawks were exceptional from 3-point range, knocking down 47.8 percent (11-of-23) of their shots from beyond the arc. The difference in the game ended up being on the boards, as the Knights finished with a 43-31 edge in rebounds.
 
New Paltz finishes its season at 6-19 overall and 3-15 in the SUNYAC. Geneseo rises to 20-5 overall (14-4 SUNYAC) and earns the No. 3 seed in the 2014 SUNYAC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament. The Knights host sixth-seeded SUNY Oneonta in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
 
The Hawks held the upper hand early on in the game, jumping out to a 12-3 lead after sophomore forward Kevin Roach (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) drilled a three-pointer. Geneseo went on an 8-0 tear to cut the lead to one, and after the two teams traded baskets, a 6-0 Hawk run spurred by two 3-pointers by sophomore guard Zach Cone-Douglas (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) gave New Paltz a 20-13 cushion. Geneseo charged back and ended up taking the lead with 6:23 to go in the first half. The Hawks responded, though, and they entered the locker room with a 32-30 advantage.
 
After the two squads battled early in the second half, the Knights went on an 11-2 run, but New Paltz countered once again, netting six straight points. A layup by Taldi with 4:12 to go in regulation cut the deficit to three, but Geneseo had a 12-0 spurt after that to pull away.
 
New Paltz was led by Cone-Douglas, who scored a team-high 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor and 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. Roach and senior guard Andrew Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y./High School of Art and Design) added 13 and 12, points, respectively, while Taldi provided 11 coming off the bench. Freshman forward Andrew Seniuk (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) had a strong stat line of nine points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes of reserve duty.
 
Junior guard Andy Drescher and junior forward James McKenna paced Geneseo with 17 and 16 points, respectively, coming off the bench. Senior forward Matt Curry and senior guard Thomas Decker added 13 and 11 points, respectively, while junior forward Gordon Lyons pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds.