NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team scored the first nine points of the game and never trailed in a 64-42 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) victory over SUNY Potsdam Friday night at the Hawk Center.
 
The Hawks held the Bears to 24.5 percent (13-of-53) shooting from the floor on the evening while fashioning a 42.6 percent (20-of-47) field-goal percentage of their own. New Paltz forced Potsdam into 22 turnovers and scored 23 points off them, and the home team netted 10 fast-break points. Potsdam did, however, finish with a 40-35 edge in rebounds.
 
New Paltz rises to 9-10 overall (7-5 SUNYAC) with the win and moves into a three-way tie for fourth in the conference standings. The Hawks will continue their playoff push tomorrow afternoon, as they square off with first-place SUNY Plattsburgh at 2 p.m. Potsdam drops to 2-16 overall (1-11 SUNYAC) and visits SUNY Oneonta tomorrow at 2 p.m.
 
The Hawks stormed out of the gates with a 9-0 run, which was capped off by a made free throw by sophomore forward Andrew Seniuk (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) with 17:18 to go in the first half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by junior guard Joe Estramonte and senior guard Rishawd Hendricks trimmed the deficit to three, but that would be the closest the Bears would get the entire evening, as New Paltz headed into the locker rooms up, 26-19.
 
A 9-0 New Paltz surge early in the second half opened up a 38-22 lead, and the Hawks led by double digits the rest of the way. The Hawks' largest advantage of the contest (24) came when sophomore center Jared Beattie(Granville, N.Y./Granville) connected on a pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
Eleven different Hawks scored, led by senior guard/forward R.J. Rosa's (North Branch, N.Y./Sullivan West) team-high 14 points. Senior guard/forward Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) and Seniuk also reached double figures, netting 13 and 11 points, respectively. Rosa stuffed the stat sheet with five steals, five assists and three rebounds, while Seniuk grabbed six rebounds, all of which he pulled down in the first half.
 
Hendricks keyed Potsdam's efforts in 30 minutes of reserve duty, notching a double-double with game-highs in points (19) and rebounds (10). Junior guard Marquis Lee dished out five assists in just 15 minutes coming off the bench.