NEW PALTZ, NY — SUNY New Paltz and Oneonta opened up the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) schedule in heart stopping fashion with the Red Dragons outlasting the Hawks 106-101 in triple overtime.
In a game that featured 14 ties and nine lead changes during the three overtime sessions, Oneonta outscored New Paltz 14-8 in the final five minutes to earn the victory. The Red Dragons were led by senior forward Kurt Troyer (Albany, NY) who scored seven of his game-high 34 points in the third overtime session to give Oneonta (1-2, 1-0) its first win of the season. Troyer, who was 12-of-16 from the floor in 50 minutes of action, hit his biggest shot of the night with time winding down in the second overtime. With Oneonta trailing 92-90, Troyer recovered a loose ball following his own miss and hit a driving lay up with no time on the clock to force the third overtime period.
New Paltz (1-2, 0-1) had a chance to pick up a win in its SUNYAC opener for the first time since 1996 in the first overtime period when senior guard Dom Fornabaio (Wappingers Falls, NY) went to the foul line with six seconds remaining and the Hawks ahead 83-82. But Fornabaio went 1-of-2 at the line and following an Oneonta time out, senior guard Shabron Bridges (Bronx, NY) drove the length of the floor and hit a lay up to tie the game at 84-84.
New Paltz clawed its way out of a 72-63 deficit with five minutes left in regulation to force overtime. Senior guard Joe Bell (Albany, NY) and senior center Steve Ott (New Paltz, NY) combined for seven of the Hawks final nine points and senior guard Matt Daudier (S. Floral Park, NY) hit a 15-foot jumper from the left wing with five seconds left in force the first extra session.
The Red Dragons overcame three deficits of 10 or more points in the first half and found themselves behind 34-25 with five minutes remaining. New Paltz, who hit 12-of-23 from three-point range in an 82-77 win over Baruch last Tuesday, was once again on fire from beyond the arc connecting on six of its first eight first half attempts. A three-point basket by Daudier with 5:20 remaining gave the Hawks an 11-point lead. Oneonta however chipped away at the New Paltz lead and managed to cut the margin to 43-35 at the break.
New Paltz was unable to sustain its hot shooting from three- point territory and went just 2-of-17 the rest of the way.
Bridges also logged 50 minutes for Oneonta and had 29 points and 14 rebounds. Junior forward MacLean Moore (Sunnyside, NY) added 14 points and 15 rebounds.
New Paltz received 19 points and a career-high 18 rebounds from Ott. Daudier also had 19 points and Fornabaio finished with 18.
