New Paltz Hawks Fall at Allegheny 72-60

MEADVILLE, PA – Sophomore guard/forward Nick Paquette poured in a career-high 23 points thanks to seven three-pointers, but this offensive outburst was not enough as the men’s basketball team at the State University of New York at New Paltz fell at host Allegheny 72-60 on Friday night in the Hawks’ first game of the Greg Richards Memorial Classic.

Paquette’s seven triples tied the second-most made three-pointers in single game history as three student-athletes have achieved this mark, most recently by R.J. Rosa ‘16. Paquette fell one make shy of tying Keith Kenney ‘99, who made eight threes back on March 7, 1999 against Alfred.

The game was highlighted by the Gators’ (1-0) Jordan Rawls, who notched 33 points behind 13-of-18 shooting and 5-of-7 three-point shooting. This was the most points scored for Allegheny since Devone McLeod tallied 34 on Jan. 5, 2013.

The Hawks (0-2) will look to respond tomorrow, playing D’Youville (0-2) at 1 p.m., as the Spartans fell to Earlham 62-59 in overtime earlier on Friday.

Paquette finished the night 8-of-14 from the field, and 7-of-12 from long distance. Junior guard Dylan Balducci joined him in double figures, chipping in 10 points off the bench including two three-pointers.

Junior Kevin Coyle notched eight points from the foul line as well as seven boards while both senior Andrew Seniuk and junior James Saunders scored six points each.

Saunders also hauled in seven boards while sophomores Cory Garcia and Brandon Tolliver pulled down six rebounds apiece.

Trailing 29-23 at halftime, the Hawks enjoyed hot shooting by Paquette and got within one, 41-40. However, Allegheny went on a 17-8 run to claim a 58-48 lead which stood for the rest of the contest.