Hawks fall to Fredonia, 68-63, despite career highs from Shereef Taylor

NEW PALTZ, NY- The SUNY New Paltz men’s basketball team hosted Fredonia State Friday night and fell to the Blue Devils, 68-63.

The Hawks and Blue Devils battled back and forth for the first twelve and half minutes to a 20-18 advantage for the Blue Devils. Fredonia then went on a 9-2 run in a 2:55 minute span to increase their lead to 29-20. The Blue Devils would hold a 36-27 advantage at the break.

The Hawks were led by freshman guard Shereef Taylor (Hyde Park, NY/FDR) with 12 points nine rebounds. Senior guard Matt Hauser (East Williston, NY/Chaminade) added two points and three of the seven steals the Hawks had in the first half. The Hawks forced 13 turnovers and held Fredonia 1-of-7 from behind the arc.

The Blue Devils were led by Brad Cooper with nine points and five rebounds and Kyle Mitchell chipped in with four points and nine rebounds.

Trailing 43-36 with 15:28 to go, the Hawks went on a 9-3 run over the next eight minutes to cut the lead to 46-45 with 7:09 remaining in the contest and was able to tie the game at 52 with 4:31 left. The Blue Devils regained the lead, 57-52 with five straight points in fifty seconds and was able to hold onto the lead for the victory.

Despite Taylor having a career night with 24 points and 11 rebounds the Hawks were unable to get the victory. Freshman guard Harris Wichard (Merrick, NY/Bellmore JFK) chipped in with 14 points. Oppong Agyemang (Windsor, CT/Windsor) had two points, two rebounds, five assists and three steals in the Hawks efforts.

Fredonia’s Cooper finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Mitchell recorded a double-double with ten points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils. The Blue Devils improve to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in SUNYAC competition.

The Hawks fall to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in SUNYAC competition.

New Paltz returns to the court tomorrow at 4 p.m. against Buffalo State in the Hawk Center.