NEW PALTZ, N.Y. - Senior Caleb Brown (Brooklyn, NY/Uncommon Charter) netted a career-high 23 points, but the Oneonta men's basketball team fell 78-68 to New Paltz to close the regular season. Oneonta (14-11, 9-9 SUNYAC) secures the sixth seed in the SUNYAC Tournament, while New Paltz (18-7, 14-4 SUNYAC) locks up the number-one seed.

"It was a tough loss tonight. They made one run in the second half and unfortunately it was the difference," said head coach Cameron Conover. "Good news is that we are in the playoffs and we look forward to our game on Tuesday." 

A three-pointer from Lucas Seyoum put the Hawks up 11-7 before junior Tyler Harts (Queens, NY/Sewanaka) scored inside, cutting the lead to two. Junior Delano Knox (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) scored off a steal from freshman Cam LaClair (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem), and a pair of Brown free throws gave the Red Dragons a 13-11 lead at 11:58.

New Paltz scored three unanswered baskets to regain the lead at 17-13. Oneonta stayed close and tied 19-19 following a Brown layup at 8:46. The Hawks used a 7-1 span capped off by an Ethan St. Lucia three-pointer to take a six-point lead. The Red Dragons fought back to tie again and took a 33-32 lead following a Harts layup with 1:39 left in the half. A final pair of Thomas Keane free throws made it 34-33 heading into the break.

New Paltz built up to a double-digit lead in the second half, and a dunk from Isaiah Rivera made it 59-44 with 10:15 left. Oneonta struggled to shoot in the second but used a 5-0 span to cut the New Paltz lead to 11 points. A Brown free throw and layup brought the score within single digits with under a minute to play, but Oneonta ran out of time to make a comeback.

Brown scored 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting and added eight rebounds, a steal, and an assist. Harts netted 17 points, three boards, and a steal, while sophomore Kobe Long (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) had 15 points and two steals. Knox had ten rebounds with four assists.

Mitchell Cummings led New Paltz with 16 points, while Dakoda Smith added 14 points and eight boards. Seyoum scored 13.