NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Junior guard Dylan Balducci (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) scored a career-high 24 points behind six three-pointers but the men's basketball team fell to visiting SUNY Cortland 77-68 in the 2016 home opener for the Hawks on Tuesday night at the Hawk Center.

Balducci finished the game 8-of-14 from the field and 6-of-11 from behind the arc in 34 minutes. The junior also contributed five boards and three assists. For Balducci, he ties his own record of six made three's in a game, which is the fifth-best mark in single-game program history.

For New Paltz (1-7, 0-3 SUNYAC), sophomore guard/forward Nick Paquette (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) notched 12 points behind 4-of-9 shooting from downtown while senior Andrew Seniuk (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) tallied 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Sophomore guard Cory Garcia (Highland, N.Y./Highland) distributed a team-high seven assists while chipping in seven boards and three steals. Sophomore guard Malik Seelal (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) recorded nine points off the bench.

As for the visiting Red Dragons (4-2, 1-1 SUNYAC), Justin Cooper and Andrew McGuire both registered 19 points as McGuire finished 5-of-6 from downtown.

The first half didn't start out too hot for New Paltz as the Hawks trailed Cortland 30-14 with 8:17 to play and went behind by 19 (35-16) with 5:31 remaining.

However, layups by Balducci and Seelal trimmed the deficit to 11 points (42-31) with just 29 seconds remaining in the opening stanza. New Paltz entered halftime trailing 45-31.

The Hawks made the contest interesting in the second half in their home-opener. After going behind by 15 (54-39) with 14:47 remaining, New Paltz enjoyed a 15-0 run over the next four minutes to knot the game at 54-54. During this hot stretch, Seniuk, Balducci, Seelal and Garcia all contributed points to get the Hawks back in the game.

Unfortunately, Cortland countered with a 10-2 spurt of their own to go ahead, 64-58, with a little over five minutes to play. New Paltz looked to rally after a layup by Seniuk and another three by Balducci, which cut the hole to five, 71-66, but the Red Dragons were too strong down the stretch run and iced four free throws in the final seconds to hand New Paltz the home-opening defeat.

The Hawks will look to respond on Saturday, Dec. 10 as they host SUNY Oneonta at 2 p.m. in a Catskill Cup rivalry contest. Oneonta currently leads the rivalry this season, 11-8.