NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team returned to action on Tuesday afternoon after being idle for a month, falling, 81-50, to SUNY Cortland in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest at the Hawk Center.
 
Senior guard/forward R.J. Rosa (North Branch, N.Y./Sullivan West) paced the Hawks with 18 points, four steals and four rebounds, while freshman guard/forward Nick Paquette (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) and junior forward Andrew Seniuk (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) added nine points apiece.
 
Senior guard Blair Estarfaa keyed the Cortland attack with 24 points off 8-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc, while senior guard/forward Grequan Carter issued seven assists. Senior forward J.P. Reagan netted 11 points in 14 minutes coming off the bench.
 
New Paltz ended up shooting 39.6 percent (19-of-48) from the field on the afternoon and scored 13 points off nine Red Dragon turnovers. Cortland finished with a 47-30 advantage in rebounds and drained 43.1 percent (31-of-72) of its shots from the floor, including a 35.1 percent (13-of-37) mark from 3-point range.
 
New Paltz drops to 1-8 overall and 0-3 in the SUNYAC with the loss. The Hawks return to action on the road this weekend, visiting The College at Brockport on Friday, Jan. 8, at 7:30 p.m. before taking on SUNY Geneseo on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 4 p.m. Cortland rises to 9-1 overall (3-0 SUNYAC) with the win and hosts Geneseo next on Tuesday, Jan. 12.
 
Cortland jumped out to a 30-13 lead and led by as many as 19 points in the first half, but the Hawks clawed back on the strength of a 10-0 run to close the period. Rosa capped off the spurt with a 3-pointer and a layup on back-to-back possessions to draw New Paltz within nine points (34-25) heading into the locker rooms.
 
The Red Dragons shot 45 percent (18-of-40) from the floor and grabbed 30 rebounds in the final 20 minutes of play to pull away from the Hawks. Cortland led by as many as 31 points, which came following a 3-pointer by freshman guard Jeff Lobello with 40 seconds left in regulation that gave the Red Dragons the final margin of victory.