NEW PALTZ, NY- The SUNY New Paltz men’s basketball team fell to visiting SUNY Purchase in the opening round of the New Paltz Tip-Off Classic Friday night, 81-78.
Purchase opened the game on a 19-8 run in the first 7:45 to take the early lead, but the Hawks were able to cut the lead to two with 4:11 left. Purchase finished the first half with 13-5 run to hold a 48-39 advantage.
Trailing by 17 points with 12 minutes remaining in the second half, the Hawks turned up the defense battled back to tie the contest at 74-74 with a 24-7 run. Freshman guard Shereef Taylor (Hyde Park, NY/FDR) and freshman forward Jayquan Anderson (Bronx, NY/Frederick Douglass Academy) each scored 12 points to lead the attack for the Hawks.
Trailing by three points with four seconds remaining freshman guard Shalik Jenkins (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) received the inbound pass and had a shot just passed the half-court line that hit the back of the rim to end the game. The Hawks were led by Taylor with a career high 22 points and eight rebounds. Anderson with another great showing in his early career added 21 points and nine rebounds. Freshman guard Harris Wichard (Merrick, NY/Bellmore JFK) was 4-for-6 from behind the arc and added a career high 16 points. Junior guard Oppong Agyemang (Windsor, CT/Windsor) dished out a career high ten assists and added five points for the Hawks.
Purchase was led by Marvin Billups with a game high 28 points and six rebounds and Jerrell Lewis added 16 points. Corey Orgias chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds for the Purchase. Purchase improves to 2-0 on the season and play Hartwick tomorrow at 8 p.m. for the championship.
The Hawks fall to 1-1 and return to the court tomorrow at 3 p.m. against York College in the consolation game.
