NEW PALTZ, NY — The SUNY New Paltz men’s basketball team will open up the 2005-06 season with a game against Messiah on the campus of Hamilton College. Over the last two seasons, Pasquerella has directed a young team through a challenging schedule that has featured several NCAA Division III Tournament qualifiers. In 2005, SUNY New Paltz went 9-16 despite finishing fourth in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) in scoring and possessing three of the league’s top-10 scorers. The previous year, the Hawks went 6-18 but registered wins over National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament participant Potsdam and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Champion Geneseo.
This year the Hawks’ chemistry will be their driving force throughout the season. With a depth from top to bottom, Coach Pasquerella boasts that his players collectively work as a team and a family both on and off the court. The men’s basketball team aims to surpass last season’s success by securing an appearance in this year’s SUNYAC Tournament. Headlining the list of returnees for the Hawks are senior guard Keith Chirchlow (Central Islip, NY), senior guard John Carter (Mount Vernon, NY), and junior forward John Hauser (East Williston, NY). Running the offensive game for SUNY New Paltz will be junior point guards Matt Irwin (Brooklyn, NY) and Jimmy Sugrue (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY).
The Hawks welcome a wealth of new talent to the 2005-06 squad, all of which will be key contributors He will look to his freshman; Matt Hauser (East Williston, NY), Terrence Gittens (Queens, NY), and Steven Lewis (New York, NY), who all complied great high schools careers, to contribute to what he hopes to be the Hawks’ best season yet.
