MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s basketball team won a pair of NESCAC home games this past weekend before hitting the road on Tuesday to earn a victory, the Panthers’ 11th straight.
The Panthers (19-3, 7-1 NESCAC) this weekend play at Hamilton (19-2, 6-2) and Amherst (14-7, 5-3) as their regular season wraps up. A Middlebury win at Hamilton will clinch first place and home court advantage for the NESCAC playoffs regardless of Saturday’s result. The Panthers are now ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division III.
On this past Saturday senior Jack Daly became the program’s all-time assists leader in the Panthers’ 75-56 win over visiting Colby (10-12, 1-7). Middlebury emerged from a back-and-forth first half with a 35-33 lead, and then dropped a 32-6 run on the Mules in the first 11:41 of the second half to win handily. The Panthers forced seven turnovers during that stretch.
Daly finished with 14 points and eight assists, breaking his own single-season record set a year ago (183) with 184. His 558 career helpers surpass 2013 graduate Jake Wolfin’s total of 553 from 2010-2013. Daly leads the NCAA D-III with 8.8 assists per game.
Matt Folger added 10 for Middlebury, while Adisa Majors scored nine with seven rebounds. Jack Farrell added eight points, and Nick Tarantino contributed seven points and seven rebounds.
Sam Jefferson led Colby with 13 points.
On Friday the Panthers needed a 15-foot jumper by Majors with five seconds remaining to turn back Bowdoin, 72-70. The Polar Bears finished the weekend at 14-8, 3-6 NESCAC.
Bowdoin led at the break, 39-38, and stretched their lead to 49-43 early in the second half. Middlebury went up by 52-51 with 9:50 to go, and the teams traded the lead the rest of the way.   MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE FRESHMAN Jack Farrell leads a fast break up the court during Saturday’s game against Colby. Middlebury won the game, 75-56.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Back-to-back three-pointers from Daly and Hilal Dahleh gave the Panthers a 70-67 edge with 2:48 to go. A three from Polar Bear Jack Simonds made it 70-70 with 1:52 remaining.
Middlebury then grabbed three offensive rebounds until Majors’ winning jumper. The Polar Bears had a look at a go-ahead three, but it came up just short.
Folger led the Panthers with 12 points and six rebounds, while Daly recorded nine points, 12 boards and nine assists. Dahleh chipped in 11 points, while Majors scored 10 and grabbed seven rebounds.
Simonds (18 points), Liam Farley (17) and David Reynolds (16) led Bowdoin.
On Tuesday, the Panthers took a 27-6 lead on the way to a 79-57 win at SUNY Canton (7-15). Folger paced the Panthers with 16 points to go along with nine rebounds, while Daly recorded 11 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Majors added 13 points on six-for-seven shooting, and Tarantino chipped in five points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.