NEW LONDON, Conn. — The Middlebury College men’s basketball team split two NESCAC road games this past weekend and stand at 18-3, 4-3 in league play with three league games remaining in the regular season.
The Panthers are in fifth place, one spot away from earning a home NESCAC playoff game. Remaining on their schedule are a game at Wesleyan (13-7, 2-4) this Sunday and home games the following weekend vs. first-place Tufts (16-4, 6-0) and Bates (10-9, 2-4).
This past Friday the Panthers pulled away in the second half to defeat host Connecticut, 77-61. Junior guard Jack Farrell scored 17 points in the game to reach 1,001 career points.
The Panthers led, 31-30, at the break, and the Camels (3-16, 0-6 NESCAC) briefly pulled ahead, 47-46, in the second half. Middlebury responded with a 14-2 run during which Max Bosco scored seven points. The Panthers shot 53 percent in the second half and a later 10-0 win ended any suspense.
Tommy Eastman scored 20 points, and as well as Farrell’s 17 Bosco added 12. Griffin Kornaker finished with nine points, a career-high nine assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Jeff Allen paced the Camels with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
On Saturday Trinity (14-6, 4-2) went on a decisive 8-0 run in the late going to claim an 82-76 victory. Five straight points from Eastman gave the Panthers a 69-66 lead before the Bantam surge made it 74-69 with 2:49 to play. The Panthers came no closer than four points the rest of the way.
Eastman finished with a game-high 22 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Bosco scored 17, while Farrell added 14 points and four assists.
Colin Donovan led Trinity with 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Kyle Padmore netted 20 points with four blocks.