CORTLAND, N.Y. – New Paltz scored 19 of the game's final 23 points, capped by Sean St. Lucia's (Niskayuna) tiebreaking layup with 28 seconds left, as the Hawks rallied to defeat host Cortland, 73-71, in SUNYAC men's basketball action. 
 
Solomon Neuhaus led New Paltz (11-6, 8-3 SUNYAC) with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Rylan Blondo added 18 points and six rebounds and St. Lucia finished with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. 
 
Cortland (7-9, 3-6 SUNYAC) was led by Austin Grunder (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) with a career-high 39 points - the highest point total by a Red Dragon since Kevin McMahon's 39-point effort versus Oswego in the 2013-14 season. Grunder was 14-of-24 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Humberto Cabrera (Millbrook) scored 10 points, Danny Linehan (Blauvelt/Tappan Zee) had eight points and Kareem Lubin (South Blooming Grove/Washingtonville) added seven points. Grunder, Linehan and Lubin shared the team lead with eight rebounds apiece, and Linehan paced the Red Dragons with five assists. 
 
New Paltz led 42-40 at halftime after a tight opening 20 minutes that featured four ties and six lead changes. Grunder scored 25 of his 39 points during the half, while Neuhaus has 14 of his 19 points before intermission. 
 
Cortland went on a 12-2 run between the 10:23 and 6:32 marks of the second half to take its largest lead at 67-54. The stretch featured two baskets by Grunder and 3-pointers from AJ Morales (Hopewell Junction/Millbrook) and Riley McEvoy (Homer). From that point, however, New Paltz held Cortland without a field goal the remainder of the game. The Hawks went on a 14-1 run in less than four minutes, tying the game at 68-68 on St. Lucia's 3-pointer with 2:56 remaining. 
 
Trailing by two, Cortland took the lead after New Paltz committed a foul and was also assessed with a technical foul with 1:59 left. Lubin hit two fouls shots to tie the game and McEvoy made the first of his two free throws to put the Red Dragons on top, 71-70. New Paltz turned the ball over with 1:40 remaining but Cortland lost the ball at the 1:19 mark. Blondo made the second of two free throws with 1:10 left to tie the score, Cortland missed a shot on its next possession, and St. Lucia hit the go-ahead shot on a driving reverse layup from the left baseline. 
 
Isaiah Bien-Aise registered a steal with less than 10 seconds left and was fouled, but he missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Cortland had one last chance following a timeout but was only able to get off a very contested 3-pointer that was well short as the buzzer sounded. 
 
Cortland hosts Oneonta Saturday at 4 p.m.