BROCKPORT, N.Y. – Senior guard/forward Taylor Sowah (Bronx, N.Y./Miller Place) recorded his 10th double double of the season on Saturday for the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team but the Hawks fell just short at The College at Brockport 61-57 on Saturday afternoon in Vlogiantis Gym.
With the defeat, the Hawks have now suffered three-straight losses in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) and fall to 10-13, 8-8 SUNYAC. New Paltz returns home to host Buffalo State and SUNY Fredonia from Feb. 20-21, still battling for a postseason berth as the Hawks are currently tied with SUNY Oneonta for seventh place.
The Eagles, meanwhile, improve to 12-10, 9-6 SUNYAC and will host SUNY Cortland on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 5:30 p.m.
New Paltz held a slim, 29-27 at intermission on Saturday but was outscored 34-28 in the second half by Brockport. The Hawks did manage to outshoot the Golden Eagles, going 45.1 percent from the field (23-of-51) while holding the host team to a 33.9 percent (21-of-62) outing. New Paltz also held a slim edge on the boards, 41-40, but were hurt by 20 turnovers.
Sowah registered game-highs of 25 points (10-of-18) and 16 rebounds in 38 minutes. Senior guard/forward R.J./ Rosa (North Branch, N.Y./Sullivan West) notched 13 points, four rebounds and two steals while junior forward Kevin Roach (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) finished with 11 points and seven boards.
Brockport had only two players in double figures but received a little more offensive balance with seven players tallying at least six points. Sophomore forward Levi Pace notched 14 points and seven boards to lead the Golden Eagles as Brockport now controls fifth place in the league standings.
The Hawks controlled the contest in the first few minutes of the game, jumping out to a 7-2 lead thanks to five points from Rosa. But Brockport stormed back to knot the game at seven with 14:33 left.
From that moment, the Golden Eagles went on an 8-3 spurt to hand New Paltz a 15-10 deficit at 11:20. A fast break layup by sophomore guard Eric Regenbogen (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) brought the Hawks within three (15-12) but Brockport countered with another 10-6 run to take a 25-18 lead with 5:49 to play.
The Golden Eagles increased their lead to nine (27-18) but New Paltz battled right back into the contest, putting together an impressive 11-0 run to regain the lead 29-27 at halftime as Rosa scored with just 22 seconds left.
New Paltz stormed out of the gates to start the second period and claimed a seven-point lead (34-27) following another bucket by Rosa at 18:53. However, that lead was short lived as Brockport began to heat up from the field and knotted the game at 34 with 17:22 to play, which prompted New Paltz to call a timeout.
The contest remained back-and-forth with New Paltz earning no more than a four-point lead before Brockport would answer and tie the game back up. The clash was tied at 46 with 7:30 remaining when the Golden Eagles went on an 11-4 run to put the Hawks in a 57-50 hole with just 2:34 to go.
The Hawks clawed within three (58-55) after layups by Sowah and Rosa but had only 20 seconds to try and complete the comeback. Brockport would not allow this to occur, however, as the Golden Eagles hit three free throws in the waning seconds of the game to hand New Paltz the tough conference defeat.