NEW PALTZ, NY- The New Paltz men’s basketball team fell to the visiting Blue Knights, 63-61 Saturday evening in the Hawk Center. Three Hawks scored in double-figures, but the Hawks fall to 11-10 overall and 7-7 in the league.
Jayquan Anderson led the Hawks with a game-high 20 points and five boards as Shereef Taylor added 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and six boards, before leaving the game with 13 minutes to go with an injury. Harris Wichard had 11 points and six boards and Oppong Agyemang finished with six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Mike Hoy scored 15 points to lead Geneseo and John Drazan scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor. Brandon Simpson finished 10 points and Kyle Stevens and Abe Miller each had seven points a piece. Marcus Hoy finished with a game-high six assists as the Blue Knights improve to 7-14 overall and 6-8 in the SUNYAC.
The Hawks jumped out quickly on a 6-1 run in the first four minutes, but Geneseo came back with a 21-10 run to take a 22-16 lead with six minutes, 51 seconds to go. Mike Hoy extended the lead to nine on his three-pointer from the top of the key. Geneseo would go into the half up 31-26. The Geneseo bench outscored the Hawks 18-2 in the half.
In the second half, the Hawks cut the lead to two quickly with a lay-up and free throw by Wichard. Geneseo would get some breathing room with a 7-2 run to take a 38-31 advantage. Anderson ignited a 10-0 run with his lay-up and Taylor and Wichard followed with back-to-back three-pointers to take a 41-38 lead with 14 minutes, 46 seconds to go. Late in the game, with the Hawks trailing 59-56, Anderson hit back-to-back free throws to cut the lead to one with three minutes, 29 seconds to go. After a missed three-pointer by Jason Segarra, Nick Taldi gave the Hawks the lead 61-59 on his three-pointer from deep in the corner. Geneseo would answer back with a lay-up from Drazan with one minute, 14 seconds remaining. Simpson’s jumper from the baseline gave the Blue Knights the two point advantage with 10 seconds to go. After getting the ball across mid-court, the Hawks called a timeout to set-up a play. After the timeout, Anderson drove into the paint and pulled up, but his jumper rimmed out as the Blue Knights survived, 63-31.
