MEADVILLE, Pa. – Sophomore guard/forward Nick Paquette (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West) poured in a career-high 23 points thanks to seven three-pointers, but this offensive outburst was not enough as the men's basketball team at the State University of New York at New Paltz fell at host Allegheny 72-60 on Friday night in the Hawks' first game of the Greg Richards Memorial Classic.

Paquette's seven triples tied the second-most made three-pointers in single game history as three student-athletes have achieved this mark, most recently by R.J. Rosa '16 (1/6/15 at Cortland). Paquette fell one make shy of tying Keith Kenney '99, who made eight threes back on March 7, 1999 against Alfred.

The game was highlighted by the Gators' (1-0) Jordan Rawls, who notched 33 points behind 13-of-18 shooting and 5-of-7 three-point shooting. This was the most points scored for Allegheny since Devone McLeod tallied 34 on Jan. 5, 2013.

The Hawks (0-2) will look to respond tomorrow, playing D'Youville (0-2) at 1 p.m., as the Spartans fell to Earlham 62-59 in overtime earlier on Friday.

Paquette finished the night 8-of-14 from the field, and 7-of-12 from long distance. Junior guard Dylan Balducci (Massapequa Park, NY/Massapequa) joined him in double figures, chipping in 10 points off the bench including two three-pointers.

Junior Kevin Coyle (Rockville Center, NY/South Side) notched eight points from the foul line as well as seven boards while both senior Andrew Seniuk (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) and junior James Saunders (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) scored six points each.

Saunders also hauled in seven boards while sophomores Cory Garcia (Highland, NY/Highland) and Brandon Tolliver (Riverhead, NY/Riverhead) pulled down six rebounds apiece.

Trailing 29-23 at halftime, the Hawks enjoyed hot shooting by Paquette and got within one, 41-40. However, Allegheny went on a 17-8 run to claim a 58-48 lead which stood for the rest of the contest.