BUFFALO, N.Y.— Lovell Smith (Buffalo/McKinley) scored a career-best 35 points, dished out six assists and tallied seven steals to lead Buffalo State past New Paltz, 94-79, in an important conference win at home on Friday night.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State - 94, New Paltz - 79

LOCATION:  Sports Arena – Buffalo, NY

RECORDS:  Buffalo State (14-10, 8-9 SUNYAC), New Paltz (4-19, 3-14 SUNYAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Buffalo State used a 21-6 run midway through the first half to take control of the game and never looked back.  
• Smith paced the Buffalo State offense, while Nico McLean (Buffalo/Amherst) added 16 points and Leon Moise (Brooklyn/Thomas Jefferson) chipped in 10 points.
• The Bengals opened the game with two quick buckets to take a 4-0 lead in the opening minute of play.
• A 3-pointer from New Paltz at the 16-minute mark gave the Hawks their first and only lead of the game, 12-11.
• After the Bengals 21-6 run, Buffalo State continued to push the pace and found themselves up 52-30 heading into halftime.
• Buffalo State found itself up ahead by 36 points on two separate occasions in the second half.
• The Hawks chipped away at the Bengals lead, but the closest they would come was 15 points, 94-79, after a layup in the final seconds of the game.
• The Bengals finished the game shooting 48.8 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from long range and 69.2 percent from the free throw line.
• Buffalo State took advantage on the inside game, scoring 66 points in the paint and also tallied 30 points off 24 New Paltz turnovers.

FOR THE FOES

• New Paltz finished the game shooting 51.7 percent from the floor, 38.5 percent from long range and 50 percent from the free throw line.
• R.J. Rosa led the Hawks on offense with 23 points, while Joseph Ivin added 12 points.

UP NEXT

Buffalo State returns to action at home on Saturday for a key 4 p.m. SUNYAC matchup against Oneonta that will determine the Bengals fate for conference playoffs next week.