NEW PALTZ, NY — The SUNY New Paltz men’s basketball team dropped its home finale to conference rival Oneonta 75-71 this evening at Elting Gym.
The Red Dragons (12-12, 8-7) overcame a 13-point, first half deficit to earn the victory. Trailing 39-38 at the intermission, junior forward William Heslin (Schaghticoke, NY) and junior guard Sean Coffey (New Paltz, NY) combined for Oneonta’s first nine, second half points as the Red Dragons grabbed a 47-43 lead. Coffey, who finished with 13 points, drained a three-pointer with seven minutes to play to give the Red Dragons a 69-58 lead. SUNY New Paltz would pull to within six, 73-67, with 2:15 remaining on a basket by sophomore guard Tony Cannon (New York, NY) but couldn’t pull any closer.
Heslin led all scorers with 25 points and 15 rebounds on 11-of-19 shooting. Sophomore forward Amseshem Foluke-Henderson (Jamaica, NY) was the leading scorer for the SUNY New Paltz with 18 points. Sophomore forward John Hauser (East Williston, NY) finshed with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Matt Irwin (Brooklyn, NY) was also in double figures with 13 points.
The Hawks (9-14, 3-11) had the advantage throughout most of the first half. They raced out to a 14-4 lead in the first six minutes of the game and led by as many as 13 with 12 minutes left in the half. SUNY New Paltz had a 10-point advantage as late as the 2:43 mark. Foluke-Henderson controlled the game in the opening half with 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting and six rebounds.
Oneonta closed out the final two minutes of the first half on a 9-2 run to trim the Hawks lead one.
