NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Shereef Taylor's three-pointer with 57 seconds left broke a 66-66 tie and New Paltz went on to defeat Cortland, 77-70, in a SUNYAC contest. The Hawks upped their record to 5-7 and are now 3-2 in the league. The Red Dragons fall to 8-3 overall and 2-2 in the SUNYAC.

Senior Jesse Winter (Rockville Centre/South Side) led Cortland with 20 points. He made 4-of-7 three-pointers and also dished out three assists. Senior Harrison Hefele (Greenlawn/Friends Academy) scored 14 points and added five rebounds and a team-best four assists while senior Jeremy Smith (Bronx/Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy) tallied 13 points and made three steals. Junior Kevin McMahon (Hoosick Falls) finished with eight points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

Matt Devine led New Paltz with 25 points, 18 in the second half, and 12 rebounds. He made 11-of-12 free throws. Taylor totaled 22 points and nine rebounds and Shalik Jenkins contributed eight points and three assists. The Hawks shot 48 percent from the field and 38 percent (9-of-24) from three-point range, compared to Cortland's 35 percent shooting overall and 28 percent (8-of-29) from the arc.

Winter scored 15 points in the first half, including a trio of three-pointers in the opening four minutes to help the Red Dragons take a 17-9 lead. New Paltz slowly clawed back and eventually took a 30-29 lead on a Taylor Sowah layup with 2:39 left. The margin grew to seven on Devine's three-pointer with 1:39 remaining, but Hefele scored the final two baskets of the half and Cortland trailed 36-33 at intermission.

New Paltz opened the second half on a 12-7 run, capped by a Jenkins three-pointer, and held its largest lead of the night at 48-40 with 14:27 left. Cortland responded by scoring nine of the game's next 10 points to knot the game at 49-49 with 9:23 left.

The game was tied five more times from that point. Cortland took its final lead at 66-65 on a Smith three-point play with 2:31 left, but Devine tied the game 19 seconds later by hitting the second of two free throws. The Red Dragons missed two shots on their next trip down the floor and Taylor hit the go-ahead trey with 57 seconds left.

Cortland had two three-pointers miss the mark on its next possession and Sowah scored a fast-break basket off a lead pass by Jenkins with 32 seconds remaining to push the lead to five. The Red Dragons eventually closed to within three on a Smith three-pointer with 17 seconds left, but Devine made four foul shots in the last 13 seconds to seal the New Paltz win.

Cortland will host Buffalo State in a SUNYAC matchup Friday at 8 p.m.

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