The Middlebury men's basketball team dropped a close 82-81 decision at Connecticut College on Saturday, as the Panthers just missed coming away with the win. The Camels scored the deciding basket with 16.1 seconds remaining in regulation, while Middlebury's last-second shot hit the rim and bounced out. The Panthers (7-7, 1-1) are back on the court on Friday with a home game against Tufts at 7:00 p.m., while the Camels (9-3, 2-0) head to City College of New York on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.

The teams stayed within striking distance of each other early, as the Panthers led 11-8 on two free throws by Connor Huff. The Camels countered with eight straight points, building a 16-11 advantage 6:19 into the game.

Conn. College slowly began to build its lead and forged a 42-26 advantage with four minutes left in the opening half. The Panthers closed out the period with a 7-0 run, as Matt Daley scored six of those points that brought the visitors to within 46-38 at the break.

Once the second half began, Middlebury slowly narrowed the gap. A 29-16 run over 11 minutes eventually gave the Panthers a 75-72 lead, when Matt St. Amour and Adisa Majors hit consecutive field goals. The Camels regained the lead on a lay-up by Tyler Rowe with 2:45 left in the game, but Daley scored five seconds later to put Middlebury back in front.

The Panthers took their final lead of the game at 81-80, when Jake Brown sank a free throw and broke the game's 12th tie with 59 seconds left. Middlebury had a chance to add to its lead, but could not connect on the front end of a one-and-one with 28 seconds left.

On their final possession, the Camels were able to isolate Rowe, as he sprinted to the basket and banked in the runner that proved to be the difference.

Middlebury's last chance came on a runner by Brown in the paint that rimmed out and Zuri Pavlin corralled the rebound in a scramble to close out the 82-81 win.

St. Amour led all players with 23 points, as he made 7-12 from the floor with four three-pointers. Daley posted a double-double for the Panthers with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Zach Baines came off of the bench to contribute 12 points. Brown led all players in the game with seven assists.

Lee Messier scored 19 points off of the bench to lead Conn. College, while Rowe added 13 points. Pavlin boasted a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards, while Colin Roscoe scored 10 points.