A fast-break layup by Middlebury's Jack Daly with 15 seconds left on Saturday proved to be the difference in a 67-65 NESCAC victory over Colby in Pepin Gymnasium. The visitors had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but a three-point field goal from the left wing rimmed out in a contest that was moved back a day because of weather-related issues. The Panthers (13-8, 5-2) are back on the court Sunday for a home game against Bowdoin at 1:00 p.m., while Colby (13-8, 1-6) travels to Hamilton for a contest at the same time.

The Mules got on the scoreboard first via a Chris Hudnut jumper with 59 ticks elapsed, but Middlebury rattled off seven-straight points on a layups by Adisa Majors and Jake Brown sandwiched around a three-pointer from Daly. Colby put together a 7-2 run, capped off on a fast-break layup from Ryan Jann, to draw even at 9-9 with 14:59 left in the opening half. The teams battled back and forth with neither side holding more than a four-point edge. Trailing by one, a three from Jann with 7:06 left gave the Mules a two-point lead at 21-19.

Middlebury clamped down on the defensive end over the remainder of the opening half, outscoring the Mules 16-1. Colby went 0-4 from the field over the final seven minutes and committed seven turnovers with a lone free throw by Luke Westman at the 4:06 mark. Brown led the Panthers with six points during the run, as the Panthers maintained a 13-point lead (35-22) after one half. The hosts shot 48.4 percent (15-31) in the stanza with just six turnovers, while Colby shot just 32 percent (8-25) with 17 miscues.

Out of the break, the Mules slowly chipped away at the Panther lead, scoring 19 of the first 27 points over the initial 6:50, and pulled to within two at 43-41 on a three-pointer from Sam Willson. A layup from Middlebury's Hilal Dahleh on its ensuing possession pushed the Panther lead back to four (45-41), but the Mules utilized the momentum with a 13-2 run over a 4:09 stretch. Following that burst, the visitors possessed their largest lead of the contest at 54-47 on a layup by Hudnut.

The game of runs continued as Middlebury managed an 11-3 spurt for a narrow one-point edge (58-57) on a jumper by Connor Huff with 5:55 left. The lead changed hands four times over the next few minutes with Colby taking a two-point lead (65-63) on a charity toss from Hudnut with 50 seconds left. On the next possession, Majors connected on an eight-foot jumper from the middle of the paint and tied the game at 65-65.

Running the clock down, Westman's layup attempt for the Mules with 20 seconds left came up short. Zach Baines grabbed the defensive rebound, made a nice outlet pass to Brown, who found a streaking Daly down the right side for the go-ahead layup. A three-point attempt by Willson from the left wing came up short, as Hudnut grabbed the offensive rebound, but was unable to get a shot up before the final buzzer sounded.

Brown led the Panthers with 18 points to go along with six assists. Majors added 14 points on 7-8 shooting with five rebounds, while Daly chipped in 11 points as well as a game-high eight assists and team-best eight rebounds.

Hudnut tied Brown for game-high honors with 18 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Patrick Stewart was right behind with 17 points, while Jann chipped in with 13. Willson added eight points and eight boards, while Westman handed out a team-high seven assists. The Mules held a 45-28 edge in the rebounding battle.