NEW PALTZ, NY – — The SUNY New Paltz men’s basketball team dropped to 2-6 on the year with a 73-46 non-conference loss to William Paterson this afternoon at Elting Gym.
The Hawks, playing their first game since Dec. 10, trailed 14-10 with 9:40 remaining in the first half before William Paterson outscored New Paltz 12-0 the rest of the way to take a 26-10 lead into the lockeroom. The Pioneers limited the Hawks to just four, first half field goals (4-of-19, .211) and forced 15 turnovers to build their 16-point advantage.
New Paltz however began the second half strong using eight points in a span of two minutes by junior guard Joe Bell (Albany, NY) to cut the Pioneers’ lead to 27-23 at the 16:42 mark.
Junior forward Rory Caswell (Toms River, NJ) helped the Pioneers push the lead back to double figures scoring 10 of his team’s next 14 points to give William Paterson a 41-27 advantage with 10:45 to play.
Caswell led all scorers with 15 points off the bench on 5-of-5 shooting from the field. Junior guard Khayri Battle (Newark, NJ) added 14 points to help the Pioneers (9-2) register their ninth straight win.
The Hawks were led by sophomore forward Peter Ferenz (Huntington, NY) who scored 12 points. New Paltz will travel to New York City to take on New York University on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. The Hawks dropped a 48-46 decision to the Violets on Dec. 4 at Elting Gym.
