Middlebury ran into red-hot shooting at Williams, as the Ephs shot .527 from the floor on their way to an 87-62 victory over the Panthers (13-4, 2-3) on Friday evening. Middlebury returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Hamilton at 2:00 p.m., while Williams (12-7, 3-3) visit Bates on Friday.

Leading by five, Williams went on a 9-0 run at the 10:27 mark to take a 29-15 lead with 7:00 remaining. The advantage extended to 17 points before the Panthers chipped away, coming within 12 on a three from Bryan Jones with 2:33 left in the first half. Jones again struck late in the half from long range to make it a 46-33 game at the intermission.

The Ephs led by a score of 51-40 before a 9-0 run put them up 60-40 at the 12:48 mark of the second half. The lead hovered behind 15-20 points before Williams pulled away in the final five minutes of the game.

Jones led the Panthers with a career-best 13 points on 4-4 shooting, while Matt Daley scored 11 with eight boards and Matt St. Amour added 10. Jake Brown chipped in with nine points, four assists and three steals. Middlebury went 1-13 (.077) from three-point range, converting just 19-28 (.679) free throws.

Hayden Rooke-Ley led all scorers with 20 points for Williams, Daniel Wohl netted 18, while Daniel Aronowitz scored 17 on 7-10 shooting. Williams made 17-19 (.895) free throws, while connecting on 12-28 (.429) from downtown.