UTICA, NY – — The SUNY New Paltz men’s basketball team had its run at an atutomatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament ended with a 73-40 loss to third-seeded Buffalo State in the championship game of the SUNYAC Tournament this afternoon at the Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, NY.
The eighth-seeded Hawks, who finished the year with an 11-17 record under first-year head coach Doug Pasquerella, had registered upset wins over top-seeded Potsdam in quarterfinals on Tuesday evening (Feb. 25) and fifth-seeded Brockport in last night’s semifinal to earn the right to play for the league title.
Buffalo State, who already owned a pair of wins over New Paltz this season; including a 74-71 victory on Feb. 15 in Buffalo, took command early with a 9-2 start in the first three minutes. As New Paltz struggled to find its offense, the Bengals pulled away midway through the half and used an 18-2 run to build a 29-10 lead with just under nine minutes remaining. New Paltz hit just 8-of-25 (.320) from the floor in the opening half as Buffalo State took a 39-19 lead into the lockeroom.
New Paltz, who lost its only other SUNYAC Tournament championship game appearance to Buffalo State in 1996, continued to struggle in the second half as Buffalo State extended its lead to 53-24 at the 10-minute mark.
The Bengals had four players in double figures and were led by junior guard/forward Josh Becker (Hamburg, NY) who scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the first half and was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. New Paltz junior forward Steve Ott (New Paltz, NY) had six points and four rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team. He had 17 points and 14 rebounds and hit the game-winning shot with two seconds remaining in last night’s semifinal win over Brockport. Junior guard Joe Bell (Albany, NY) was the leading scorer this afternoon for New Paltz with eight points.
The Bengals (19-8) captured their 11th SUNYAC men’s basketball championship under head coach Dick Bihr. The program will make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997 and 12th overall in Bihr’s 23-year tenure at the school. The field for the 48-team NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament will be announced tomorrow evening at 9:00 p.m.
