Second half runs pace Cardinals over Hawks

PLATTSBURGH, NY- The SUNY New Paltz men’s basketball team fell to host Plattsburgh 76-62, Saturday evening at Memorial Hall on the campus of SUNY Plattsburgh.

The first half the teams battle back and forth with the Hawks holding a one point advantage, 11-10, the Cardinals went on a 11-2 run to take a 21-13 lead.  The Hawks were able to cut the lead to two points, 33-31 at the half.

Junior forward Lee Bertram (Bayport, NY/Bayport Blue-Point) led the Hawks with ten points and six rebounds.  Freshman guard Harris Wichard (Merrick, NY/Bellmore JFK) and senior guard Matt Hauser (East Williston, NY/Chaminade) each added nine points for the Hawks in the first half.

The Cardinals were led by RJ Ronesse with ten points and four rebounds and Errol Daniyan added six points and seven rebounds.  Danny Tangney scored six points and two rebounds.

In the second half, the teams continued to battle for the first five minutes before the Cardinals scored seven straight points in a minute to take the 50-43 advantage with 14:33 remaining in the game.  After a basket by the Hawks, the Cardinals scored ten straight points over the next two minutes and forty-five seconds to push their advantage to 15 points, 60-45 with 11:34 remaining in the game.

Hauser led the Hawks with 17 points and Wichard added 14 points.  Junior forward Connor Cornine (Warwick, NY/Don Bosco Prep) recorded a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds and Bertram finished with a double-double, 15 points, ten rebounds, three assists and two steals.  Junior guard Oppong Agyemang (Windsor, CT/Windsor) had three points, eight rebounds, a game high nine assists and three steals in the efforts for the Hawks.

The Cardinals Daniyan had a game high 26 points and a game high 15 rebounds and Ronesse added 17 points and six rebounds.  Chris Ruiz scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half to pace the Cardinals, who improve to 5-10 overall and 3-4 in SUNYAC competition.

The Hawks fall to 7-8 overall and 4-3 in SUNYAC competition.

The Hawks return to the court January 19 against Brooklyn College in the Hawk Center, tip-off set for 2 p.m.