BEVERLY, Mass. — The Middlebury College men’s basketball team went on an 11-0 run to close the first half on the way to a 78-67 victory over host Endicott on Sunday.
The 4-0 Panthers, ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division III in the early going, return to action on Dec. 5 with a 7:30 p.m. home game vs. Plattsburgh. Endicott, which defeated the Panthers in Middlebury a year ago, dropped to 2-1.
The game was tied at 15-15 before the Panthers went on a pair of big runs on the way to a 38-23 lead at the break. A 10-1 surge capped by an Adisa Majors jumper at 5:51 made it 26-26. The Gulls cut it to 27-23 before the Panthers’ 11-0 run, highlighted by Hilal Dahleh’s five points.
Middlebury opened the second half with an 11-6 run to lead by a game-high 20, 49-29. The Gulls fought back to within six twice — 59-53 on a Joe Del Ricci three with 7:30 and 61-55 on a Keith Brown layup at 6:32.
But Middlebury scored five points on its next two possessions on a three from Dahleh and a layup by Nick Tarantino to nail down the win.
Jack Daly led Panthers with a game-high 19 points to go along with nine assists and nine rebounds. Tarantino collected 17 points and 10 boards, while Matt Folger contributed 14 points and nine rebounds. Dahleh finished with a career-high 18 points on six-for-seven shooting, with four threes, four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
Brown, the nation’s leading scorer at 41.5 points per game entering the day, led Endicott with 15 points, while Del Ricci added 14.
Middlebury held big advantages in points in the paint (44-16) and rebounds (58-30).