Montclair, NJ  – Junior forward ANDREW AUGUST (Bridgewater, NJ / Bridgewater-Raritan) scored 25 points while senior forward CHARLES MILLER (Linden, NJ / Linden) added a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds as Montclair State closed out the non-conference portion of its schedule with an 88-76 victory over New Paltz at the Panzer Athletic Center on Wednesday evening.

Freshman MICHAEL PRICE (Plainfield, NJ / Plainfield) added 11 points, five rebounds and four assists as the Red Hawks improved to 12-2 with their second straight victory.

Freshman guard Taylor Sowah (Bronx, NY / Miller Place) had 16 points off the bench with Matt Devine (Manalapan, NJ / Freehold Township) had 14 points and eight boards as the Hawks fell back to the .500 mark at 4-4. New Paltz was playing its first game in 28 days having been out of action since a 72-39 win at Vassar on December 7.

Montclair State led by as many at nine in the first half, including a 25-16 advantage with 10:09 left as TYRONE PREWITT (Trenton, NJ / Trenton) put back a missed shot. New countered with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 25-all with under seven minutes to go and the Hawks later built a three-point lead as Devine hit a free throw for a 36-33 advantage with 3:12 remaining.

MSU would score nine of the final 11 points to take a 42-38 lead into the locker room. Price scored on consecutive trips down the floor to put MSU in front and August's three-point play gave the Red Hawks a 40-38 lead with 1:25 to go. Prewitt added two from the foul line as Montclair State led 42-38 at the break.

Miller and August each had 11 points in the opening period.

In the second half, Shereef Taylor (Hyde Park, NJ / Franklin D. Roosevelt) scored the first basket of the period for New Paltz before Montclair went on a 17-2 run over the next five minutes to break the game open. Miller began the spurt with a layup. August netted five points in the run with Larkin and RODNEY FREENEY (Piscataway, NJ / Piscataway) getting four apiece as MSU stretched its lead to 59-42 with 15 minutes left.

Freeney had nine points for MSU, which shot 74 percent (17-of-23) from the floor in the second half and 52 percent (33-of-64) for the game. Larkin added eight points and TOM BONARD (Westfield, NJ / Westfield) seven. Prewitt collected six points and SEAN YOUNG (Scotch Plains, NJ / SP-Fanwood) registered five points and five rebounds.

Harris Wichard (Merrick, NY / Bellmore JFK ) scored 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds for New Paltz. Taylor posted seven points.

Both teams return to action with conference contests. Montclair State, currently 2-0 in the NJAC heads to Union, NJ on Saturday, January 8 to face Kean University at 3:00 pm. New Paltz is home on Friday, January 7 to take on Buffalo State in a SUNYAC game at 8:00 pm.