CORTLAND, N.Y. - New Paltz held Cortland to 12 second-half points and the Hawks defeated the host Red Dragons, 54-39, to take over the lead in the SUNYAC men's basketball standings.
 
New Paltz improved to 13-4 in the league and 17-7 overall, while Cortland dropped into second place in the conference with a 12-4 mark (13-10 overall). Cortland can still finish anywhere from first to third in the conference based on the results of its final two regular-season games next Friday at Oswego and Saturday at Canton, along with New Paltz's final conference game at Oneonta next Saturday.
 
Kendall Arcuri (Staten Island/St. Joseph by-the-Sea) led Cortland with 13 points and also pulled down five rebounds. Isaiah Austin (Albany) scored nine points and Joel Davis (Watertown) led the team with seven rebounds and three steals.
 
Sean St. Lucia led New Paltz with 17 points and four steals. All of his points came in the first half. Lucas Seyoum finished with 10 points and Dakoda Smith led the Hawks with nine rebounds and six steals.
 
New Paltz never trailed in the contest. The Hawks led 15-5 early before Cortland closed back within one at 15-14. New Paltz built a 12-point lead at 26-14, but the Red Dragons fought back again and trailed by only three, 30-27, at halftime.
 
Neither team scored for more than four minutes to start the second half. Arcuri's two free throws at the 15:36 mark made it 30-29, but Cortland was held scoreless for more than five minutes as the Hawks pushed their lead to nine. Cortland was down six, 40-34, with 6:29 left before the guests rattled off nine straight points, the first seven by A.J. Knight for his only points of the game, to take a 49-34 lead.
 
Cortland was held to 17 percent shooting in the second half and finished at 30 percent for the game. The Re Dragons also committed 18 turnovers that led to 23 New Paltz points. New Paltz finished at 38 percent shooting.
 
Prior to the game, Cortland honored two seniors - guard Jaylen Warmack (Utica/Utica Notre Dame) and student assistant coach Joe Matthews.