Stirk Leads Men’s Basketball to First SUNYAC Win

NEW PALTZ — The New Paltz men’s basketball team took on conference foes Buffalo State and Fredonia this past weekend. On Friday night the Hawks were beaten 78-49 but rebounded Saturday to pick up their first conference win over Fredonia 73-65.

New Paltz had a cold night shooting against the Bengals hitting less than 30% of their shots from the field. Steve Ott (New Paltz, NY) led a very balanced attack for the Hawks with 10 points. No other player reached double figures.

Against the Blue Devils on Saturday, the Hawks bolted out to an early double-digit lead. New Paltz controlled the rest of the half and went into the locker room up 38-30. In the second half, New Paltz pulled away from Fredonia in the final seven minutes to grab their first SUNYAC victory of the season 73-65. Senior forward Pat Stirk (Milford, CT) dominated the game on both ends of the court finishing with a career-high 37 points. Stirk also grabbed 12 boards and blocked 6 Blue Devil shots in the game.

Men’s basketball will play again Tuesday at Cortland before returning home Friday and Saturday for games against Oswego and Geneseo.