NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team completed a much-needed State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) weekend sweep on Saturday afternoon at the Hawk Center, downing SUNY Plattsburgh by a 69-55 final.
 
Senior guard/forward R.J. Rosa (North Branch, N.Y./Sullivan West) caused problems for the Cardinals on both ends of the floor Saturday, tying the single-game program record in steals with eight while scoring a game-high 17 points. The last Hawk to come away with eight steals in a game was Ben Davey against Vassar College in 2003.
 
Plattsburgh began and ended the day in a tie for first with SUNY Oswego in the SUNYAC standings, but both the Cardinals and Lakers suffered a setback to bring the pair closer to the middle of the pack. New Paltz, meanwhile, is in a two-way tie for fourth in the conference standings with SUNY Cortland, and both teams are just a half game back of third-place Buffalo State.
 
New Paltz rises to 10-10 overall (8-5 SUNYAC) with the win and takes on Oswego next on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 5:30 p.m. at Max Ziel Gymnasium, while Plattsburgh falls to 14-6 (9-4 SUNYAC) and continues its five-game road swing on Friday, Feb. 13, at 5:30 p.m. at Cortland.
 
As was the case in their victory over SUNY Potsdam on Friday night, the Hawks never trailed in the contest, limiting Plattsburgh to a season-low 30 percent (18-of-60) shooting mark from the field. New Paltz also wound up forcing 20 turnovers and netted 22 points off them.
 
The Hawks set the tone early, breaking open a 13-7 lead following a 6-1 scoring spree, which was capped off by a 3-pointer by junior forward Kevin Roach (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur). The two teams continued to trade baskets until New Paltz scored four straight points to take a double-digit lead (24-14) with 8:36 to go before halftime. Plattsburgh trimmed the deficit to single digits, but New Paltz ended the half on a 6-2 run to take a 37-27 edge into the locker rooms.
 
After a layup by senior forward Reggie Williams and a 3-pointer by senior guard Jordan Moody made it a five-point game 1:08 into the second half, the Hawks surged ahead with a 10-0 run, and a layup by junior forward/centerAlex Perlman (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) gave New Paltz a 47-32 advantage. That stretch wound up being the difference, as the Cardinals never came any closer than within nine points of the Hawks the rest of the game.
 
New Paltz shot 44.4 percent (24-of-54) from the field and 83.3 percent (15-of-18) from the line in the win, and the Hawks finished with a slight 40-38 edge in rebounds.
 
Rosa's 17 points led the way for New Paltz offensively, followed by senior guard/forward Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) and sophomore forward Andrew Seniuk (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur), who scored 13 and 12 points, respectively. Perlman drained 11 points off 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from the line in 15 minutes coming off the bench. Sowah notched his ninth double-double of the year with 10 rebounds to go along with his scoring total, while sophomore center Taylor Mulvey (Rotterdam, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) had two blocked shots.
 
For Plattsburgh, senior guard Shamoy McIntosh keyed the attack with 16 points, while Moody and junior guard/forward Kyle Richardson netted 10 points apiece. Williams tied Sowah for the game-high in rebounds with 10, while senior guard Mike Mitchell handed out four assists.