The Middlebury men's basketball team (1-2) picked up its first win of the season, an 80-63 decision at New Paltz (1-4) on Tuesday night. The Panthers return to action this weekend in Rochester, taking on Oswego on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in the Holiday Inn Airport Tournament.

The Panthers never trailed in the contest, but the Hawks hung tough early, trailing by single digits until midway through the half. Middlebury shot 47.5 percent (19-40) from the floor and forced New Paltz into 13 turnovers in the first half, entering the locker rooms with a decisive 45-27 advantage.
 
Middlebury continued to dictate the tempo in the early goings of the second half, as a three-pointer by Jack Daly staked the Panthers to their largest lead of the game (55-32) with 17:57 left in regulation. The momentum teetered back and forth between the two teams until New Paltz went on a 7-0 spurt late in the contest. An old-fashioned three-point play by Eric Regenbogen with 2:54 remaining drew the Hawks within 12 points at 75-63, their smallest deficit of the half, but the Panthers received five unanswered points by Matt St. Amour to close out the game.

Middlebury shot 44.6 percent (33-74) from the field on the game and finished with a 48-42 edge in rebounds. New Paltz shot well from beyond the arc, knocking down 40 percent (8-20) of its three-point attempts. Both teams scored 15 points off turnovers, while the Panthers' bench held a 26-20 margin over the Hawks' reserves.

Matt Daley paced Middlebury with 19 points and 10 rebounds on 8-16 shooting from the floor. Jake Brown added 10 points with seven assists, Daly scored nine with eight assists and four steals, while Connor Huff claimed nine points with seven rebounds. Nick Tarantino fortified the Panthers down low with six rebounds and four blocks coming off the bench.

R.J. Rosa led all scorers with 22 points, Alex Perlman netted 14, while Regenbogen scored 12 to pace New Paltz.