Middlebury won its second-straight NESCAC contest as the Panthers (9-7, 3-1) defeated Bates 73-61 in Pepin Gym. The win was the 300th at Middlebury for head coach Jeff Brown, who now owns a 300-181 mark in his 19th season on the bench. The Panthers are idle until next Sunday when they host Williams at 3:00 p.m., while Bates (9-7, 2-2) visits Connecticut College next Friday.

Trailing 17-14 in the first half, Middlebury went on a 15-0 run over the next 4:56, taking a 29-17 lead on a pair of free throws from Matt St. Amour with 3:33 remaining. The Panther defense forced three Bates turnovers during the stretch, while the Bobcats went 0-7 from the floor. Bryan Jones scored nine points off the bench during the run for the Panthers, who took a 34-27 lead into the halftime break.

Bates cut the lead to 40-34 on a bucket from Josh Britten with 18:03 remaining in the second half. Middlebury responded with a 14-3 run over the next 5:12, extending its lead to 54-37 with 12:51 remaining. Zach Baines scored twice during the span, with three-pointers from St. Amour and Jake Brown. The lead grew to as many as 19, with a late burst from Bates making it a 73-61 final.

St. Amour led the Panthers with a game-high 17 points, Brown added 13 with six assists, while Jones scored 11 on 4-6 shooting from the floor. Baines and Adisa Majors each netted 10 points in the game, while Jack Daly dished out five assists.

Marcus Delpeche paced Bates with 13 points and 12 rebounds, shooting 6-8 from the floor. Jerome Darling added 11 points, while Britten chipped in with 10.