Men’s Basketball Edges out John Jay 68-65

NEW PALTZ, NY — The men’s basketball team hosted John Jay tonight and defeated the Bloodhounds 68-65. The Hawks opened the game with a 7-0 run before the Bloodhounds outscored New Paltz 12-0 to take the 12-7 lead at 13:35. John Jay was up by eight at five and half minutes left in the first stanza before the Hawks narrowed the margin to one at 29-28 with just over three minutes remaining before the 35-33 intermission.
In the second half, New Paltz took their second lead of the game on a pair of free throws by Kyle Nelson. The game was tied four times with the last coming at 48-48 with 10:20 remaining in regulation. The Hawks 12-2 run to open the game at 61-52, before John Jay battled back to within three at 66-63 and 1:14 left. Nelson grabbed a key defensive board with :32 left and made one of two from the charity stripe for a four point game. Lee Bertram hit a foul shot with 11 seconds remaining before the last basket by Vaughn Mason for the final score.
Sophomore Lee Bertram led the Hawks with a double-double as he finished with a career high 22 points and grabbed 10 boards. Kyle Nelson scored 16 points and hauled down 12 rebounds and junior Matt Hauser chipped in with 15 points and handed out eight assists.
New Paltz advances to 3-5 on the year and will return to the court on January 8th when they travel to Keene for a 7:30 non-conference match-up.