MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s basketball team won two road games last week to improve to 7-0. The Panthers, ranked No. 4 in this week’s NCAA Division III poll, will host New England College at 5 p.m. on Saturday before visiting currently undefeated Stevens Institute on Sunday.
On Nov. 26 the Panthers led by as many as 20 points early in the second half before settling for an 87-77 win at Northern Vermont-Johnson (2-5).
Middlebury led by 46-32 at the half, and stretched the advantage to 64-44 with 14:40 to go. Johnson cut the advantage to nine at one point, but came no closer.
Max Bosco led five Middlebury players in double figures with 16 points and a career-high six assists. Griffin Kornaker and Ryan Cahill each scored 14, and Kornaker racked up five steals. Tommy Eastman netted 13 off the bench with a game-high 12 rebounds, and Jack Farrell added 12 points with six boards.
Johnson’s Ayodeji Shokeye led all scorers with 17 points, and Robert Dubose netted 13 with five assists.
On Sunday Middlebury outscored host Endicott 54-28 in the second half in a 98-78 victory over the Gulls (3-3).
The Panthers dropped a 25-8 run on the Gulls to open the second half after trailing by 50-44 at the break. An Eastman layup capped the surge and made it 69-60 with 11:54 remaining.
Endicott pulled to within 73-69 at 8:33, but the Panthers went on a 11-0 run over the next 4:54 to make it 84-69. A Farrell three put the exclamation point on that spurt, and the lead eventually grew to as many as 24.
Farrell poured in a career-high 31 points, including 17 in the second half, to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Kornaker, Bosco and Eastman each netted 14 points, while Eastman pulled down a game-best 13 rebounds. Perry DeLorenzo chipped in with 12 points but hitting all four of his three-point attempts. Cahill added eight boards in the victory, while Alex Sobel collected six.
Keith Brown led the Gulls with 19 points and eight rebounds to go along with four assists. Matt McDevitt added 14 points.
Middlebury shot 53 percent (37-70) from the floor, including 57 percent in the second half, and limited Endicott to 36 percent shooting. The Panthers held a 32-18 edge in bench points.