NEW PALTZ, NY — The SUNY New Paltz men’s basketball held on for a 83-80 victory over the visiting Old Westbury Panthers. The Hawks sank 22 of 26 from the charity stripe compared to the Panthers’ seven of 17. The Hawks had four players in double figures, led by senior John Hauser led the Hawks with a career high 27 points on 8-16 from the floor and 8-9 from the line. Hauser hauled down eight boards and dished out four assists. Amseshem Foluke-Henderson finished with 23 points and seven rebounds as Tony Cannon chipped in with 12. Victory Alvarez added 10 points shooting 4-6 from the field.
SUNY New Paltz led 37-28 at the half but the Panthers came out strong and went on an early 10-0 run in the second to tie the game at 43-43. The Panthers took their first lead of the second half on a dunk by Garthlette James at 12:18 and kept the lead until 8:02 on a jumper by Foluke-Henderson put the Hawks up for good at 58-56. The Hawks were up by as many as 10 before the Panthers battled their way back into the game. With 17 seconds remaining the Hawks led 82-77 before Kenneth Eusey hit a three pointer to make a two point game. But that is as close as the Panthers would come before the close of the game.
SUNY New Paltz advances to 6-4 on the season and returns to SUNYAC action this weekend when they travel north to take on the Potsdam Bears and the Plattsburgh Cardinals.
