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| R.J. Rosa shot 7-for-9 from
3-point range. New Paltz file photo by Ed Diller Photography |
The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team controlled just about every facet of a State University of New York Athletic Conference contest against SUNY Cortland on Tuesday afternoon at Corey Gym, knocking off the previously unbeaten Red Dragons by a 78-73 final.
The win marks New Paltz's first over Cortland at Corey Gym
since Jan. 12, 2010. The Hawks also snapped the Red Dragons'
three-game win streak in the series.
New Paltz relied heavily on senior guard/forward R.J.
Rosa, who easily played the best game of his
collegiate career. Rosa shot 7-of-9 from 3-point range, including a
6-of-6 mark in the second half, en route to scoring a career-high
31 points. His seven 3-pointers are tied for the second-most in a
single game in program history, and it is the largest total posted
by a New Paltz student-athlete since 1999.
New Paltz applied strong defense throughout the duration of
the contest, which helped limit the Red Dragons to a season-low
35.8 percent (24-of-67) shooting from the floor. Cortland kept the
score close due to a large number of 3-point attempts, shooting
13-of-42 (31 percent) from beyond the arc on the game.
The Hawks rise to 4-6 overall and 2-1 in the SUNYAC with the
win. New Paltz next hosts Brockport on Friday, Jan. 9, at 5:30 p.m.
Cortland slips to 8-1 overall (2-1 SUNYAC) with the loss and hosts
Oswego next on Friday, Jan. 9, at 5:30 p.m.
The two teams battled back and forth early, with Cortland
eventually taking an 11-6 lead—its largest of the
afternoon—with 11:55 to play in the first half. New Paltz
countered with a 12-0 surge, and Rosa's two made free throws gave
the Hawks an 18-11 advantage. While Cortland cut the lead to three,
the Hawks went on a 13-0 tear in the waning minutes of the stanza
to break open a 17-point advantage. The Red Dragons scored the
final four points of the half to provide the halftime score of
33-20.
It did not take long for Rosa to find his 3-point stroke in
the second half, hitting three treys in the first 4:33 of the
period to push the Hawks' lead back out to 17. Rosa eventually gave
the Hawks their largest cushion of the game at 48-28 with 13:14
left in regulation, but Cortland chipped away at the deficit with a
25-12 spurt, coming within seven points after an old-fashioned
3-point play by freshman guard Paul Burke with 5:43 left on the
clock. New Paltz swelled the lead back up to 15 with two minutes
remaining, but the Red Dragons kept fighting until the final horn,
netting 17 of the game's final 24 points.
The Hawks shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) from the floor for
the contest, including a 45 percent (9-of-20) mark from long range.
New Paltz also controlled the glass, edging Cortland, 43-37, in
rebounds. The Red Dragons stayed in the game due to strong play
from their bench, as their reserves combined for 41
points.
Beyond Rosa's prolific scoring output, senior
guard/forward Taylor
Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) and junior
forward Kevin
Roach (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) provided 13
and 11 points, respectively. Sowah notched his fifth double-double
of the season, grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds. Sophomore
guard Eric
Regenbogen(Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) doled out a
game-high-tying four assists, while Rosa and Roach were credited
with three steals.
For Cortland, junior guard T.J. Hefele and junior guard
Blair Estarfaa scored 20 and 13 points, respectively, coming off
the bench, while senior guard Lamard Herron was the lone starter to
reach double figures with 10 points. Defensively, junior
guard/forward Grequan Carter and junior guard Shayne Martinez each
posted four steals.