Bell Scores 28 as Men’s Basketball Team Keeps Conference Tournament Hopes Alive

NEW PALTZ, NY – — Junior guard Joe Bell (Albany, NY) scored a career-high 28 points to lead the SUNY New Paltz men’s basketball team to an 88-74 win over conference rival Plattsburgh this afternoon at Elting Gym.

The win improved the Hawks record to 9-16 overall and 6-10 in the SUNYAC. More importantly, it kept their chances alive for the eighth and final spot in next week’s conference tournament. New Paltz will now await the result of this evening’s conference match-up between Geneseo and Brockport at 8:00 p.m. A loss by Geneseo, would give the Hawks the final spot in the league tournament and set up a quarterfinal game against either Potsdam or Buffalo State on Tuesday evening.

After falling behind 10-0 in the first three minutes, New Paltz roared back behind the play of Bell who came off the bench to score 14 points in 14 minutes. He gave the Hawks their first lead of the afternoon on a three-pointer with 7:20 remaining in the half to make it 24-22. Bell then put an exclamation point on a 16-6 New Paltz run with a dunk that extended the margin to 40-28.

Bell made 10-of-15 shots from the floor and was 7-of-9 from three-point range. Senior Ben Davey (Andover, NJ) added 17 points and was 4-of-4 from three-point land. The Hawks hit 14-of-22 from three-point range on the afternoon.

Plattsburgh (6-19, 1-15) had three players in double figures. Senior forward Kurt Bush (Newcomb, NY) led the Cardinals with 19 points.

It was the final home game for seniors Davey, Steve Tobitsch (New Canaan, CT), Brian Palmer (Kingston, NY) and Danny Goldberg (New Rochelle, NY).