SALEM, Va. – After nearly a month off from competition, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team put up a strong effort against host Roanoke College in the opening round of the Cregger Classic on Friday afternoon at the C. Homer Bast Center, falling by a 77-69 final.

New Paltz played well in the first half despite surrendering 10 points off free throws, knocking down five 3-pointers total in the stanza. New Paltz seized the lead early in the second half, but a 9-0 Maroon run midway through the stanza gave Roanoke the breathing room it needed to close out the win.

The Hawks drop to 2-6 overall with the loss and will contest Eastern University in the consolation game tomorrow at 12 p.m. The Maroons rise to 6-4 with the win and will host Swarthmore College tomorrow in the championship game at 2 p.m.

It took 6:44 for Roanoke to take its first lead of the game, as New Paltz controlled the tempo early on and led by as many as four in the early goings. The two sides battled back and forth until the Maroons fired off five straight points, and senior forward Andrew Daniels' two made free throws gave Roanoke a 31-25 lead with 2:13 to go in the half. Senior guard/forward Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) cut the deficit to four before senior forward Alexander Weant made a pair of free throws to push the lead back out to six. With 13 seconds remaining in the half, senior guard/forward R.J. Rosa (North Branch, N.Y./Sullivan West) buried a 3-pointer to draw the Hawks within three at 33-30, and that wound up being the halftime score.

Junior forward Kevin Roach (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) and sophomore forward Andrew Seniuk (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) each hit treys to open the second half and give New Paltz a three-point edge, and the Hawks led until Roanoke went on a 6-0 surge to capture a four-point advantage with 13:24 left in regulation. New Paltz whittled the deficit to two on a pair of occasions after that point, but the Maroons scored nine unanswered points to break open an 11-point edge. That run ultimately proved to be the difference, as Roanoke never relinquished the lead from that point forward.

Roanoke went 24-of-32 (75 percent) from the free-throw line and shot 24-of-64 (37.5 percent) from the floor on the afternoon. The Maroons also held a slight 45-44 edge in rebounds and committed 13 turnovers to the Hawks' 18. New Paltz sank 10 3-pointers in the contest and shot 35.7 percent (10-of-28) from beyond the arc.

Sowah keyed the offense with a team-high 17 points, while Rosa and Roach netted 16 and 15 points, respectively. Sophomore guard Eric Regenbogen (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) also reached double figures in scoring, pouring in 12 points coming off the bench. Sowah and Rosa each dished out a career-high six assists, while Seniuk paced the Hawks on the boards with a career-high nine rebounds.

Daniels scored a game-high 21 points for Roanoke, while senior forward Daniel Eacho registered a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.