MIDDLEBURY, VT – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team fell behind early on Tuesday night at No. 24 Middlebury and could not recover, falling to the nationally-ranked Panthers 94-62 in non-conference action at Pepin Gym.

New Paltz falls to 0-4 and will look to bounce back after the Thanksgiving Break, traveling to Springfield on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. The Panthers, meanwhile, improve to 3-0 on the young season.

Junior guard Dylan Balducci (Massapequa Park, NY/Massapequa) led the scoring for the Hawks, netting 12 points behind a trio of three-pointers off the bench, while freshman forward/center Nick Arthur (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) scored 10 points. Freshman guard Emilio Cerda (Bronx, NY/W.H.E.E.L.S) notched nine points in relief and senior forward Andrew Seniuk (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) chipped in eight points and four boards.

Sophomore guard Malik Seelal (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) contributed seven points off the bench, going 5-of-7 from the charity stripe, and sophomore Cory Garcia (Highland, NY/Highland) dished out a team-high three assists

Middlebury had four players finish in double figures, with Matt St. Amour leading the way with 27 points behind 6-of-10 shooting from long range.

New Paltz fell behind 14-2 but battled to back get within nine points, 17-8 with 15:19 to play in the first half. Unfortunately, the Panthers enjoyed a 20-0 run through the opening period to take a commanding 56-22 lead at intermission.

The Hawks could not get anything going offensively in the second half of play and trailed by as many as 41 points en route to the non-conference defeat to the Top-25 Panthers.