POTSDAM, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team denied SUNY Potsdam on three game-tying or game-winning opportunities on the final possession of a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game at Jerry Welsh Gymnasium on Saturday, as the Hawks registered their first conference win of 2014-15 by a 63-61 final.

New Paltz, which led by as many as 13 points in the second half, had to rally on its final few possessions of the contest to emerge victorious. Potsdam took a 61-59 lead with 2:25 to go in regulation, as freshman guard Tishsean Emmanuel knocked down a 3-pointer. More than a minute later, junior forward/center Alex Perlman (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) converted on two free throws to tie the game, and senior guard/forward R.J. Rosa (North Branch, N.Y./Sullivan West) came up with a steal on the Bears' next trip down the floor, prompting a New Paltz timeout.

The Hawks let time wind down on the possession out of the timeout, and Perlman put the visitors on top, 63-61, after getting fouled on a made layup. Potsdam came up with the defensive rebound on the missed free throw, and after a timeout of their own, the Bears went for the game-tying bucket early.

With eight seconds left, senior guard/forward Zac Adams missed a layup, but he corralled his own miss to give Potsdam another shot. Junior guard Joe Estramonte misfired on a 3-pointer, but the ball deflected off a Hawk defender out of bounds to give the Bears one last chance on the inbound play. Estramonte missed again from long range right before time expired, giving New Paltz the win.

New Paltz rises to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in the SUNYAC with the victory. The Hawks will have nearly a month off from competition, as they next take the floor at the Roanoke Tournament hosted by Roanoke College from Friday-Saturday, Jan. 2-3. Potsdam drops to 1-4 overall (0-2 SUNYAC) with the loss and continues its four-game home stand on Tuesday, Dec. 9, against Skidmore College at 5:30 p.m.

A see-saw battle occurred for the majority of the first half, but a 9-0 Hawk run that was capped off by a 3-pointer by junior forward Kevin Roach (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) gave New Paltz a 27-18 lead with 5:42 left before halftime. The lead fluctuated no more than three points from that margin the rest of the half, and the two teams entered the locker rooms with a 35-27 score.

Roach and Rosa keyed a Hawk spurt early in the second half, as New Paltz took a 43-30 lead just 2:38 into the stanza. New Paltz held the upper hand in the momentum department until the Bears fired off a 6-0 run, and senior guard Rishawd Hendricks drew Potsdam within three at 54-51 midway through the period.

New Paltz ballooned the advantage back up to six following an old-fashioned 3-point play by freshman center Mark Kinnally (White Plains, N.Y./Valhalla), but a 5-0 Bear scoring spree cut the margin to one. Sophomore guard Eric Regenbogen (Wantagh, N.Y/Wantagh) put the Hawks back up by three, but Emmanuel eventually scored for Potsdam on back-to-back possessions to give the home squad a 61-59 lead. That set the table for the closing stages of the game.

The Hawks shot 43.5 percent (20-of-46) from the floor on the contest and held a 39-29 edge in rebounds. Potsdam, meanwhile, was limited to 39.6 percent (19-of-48) shooting.

Roach led New Paltz with a game-high 18 points, while Rosa and Perlman added 16 and 11 points, respectively. Roach and senior guard/forward Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) tied for the game-high in rebounds with seven each, while Regenbogen dished out four assists in 21 minutes coming off the bench.

For Potsdam, Estramonte netted a team-high 17 points, while Hendricks added 11. Emmanuel's strong play late allowed him to reach double figures, too, as he scored 10 points coming off the bench. Junior guard Marquis Lee doled out a game-high five assists.