The Middlebury men's basketball team (3-2) downed NVU-Johnson 79-54 on Tuesday evening in Pepin Gym. The Panthers return to the court on Sunday when they host Endicott at 1:00 p.m., while the Badgers (2-6) are idle until December 3rd. 
 
Middlebury jumped out to a 12-3 advantage with six points coming from David Brennan during the opening five minutes. The Panthers slowly increased the lead to 11 (34-23) on a layup from Alex Sobel with 7:19 remaining in the half. NVU-Johnson responded with an 11-2 run over the ensuing 4:39, cutting the deficit to 36-34. Middlebury tallied the final four points of the half, heading into the break with a 40-34 edge.
 
Out of the intermission, the Panthers went on a 9-2 run capped on a three from Sobel to make it 49-36 at the 16:58 mark. A jumper by Malik Moore cut the Badgers deficit to 10 (53-43) with 13:18 remaining, but that was as close as they would get. Middlebury rattled off 11 of the next 13 points to take a 64-45 lead with just under nine minutes to go in the game. The Panthers continued increasing the advantage, making it 79-52 on a jumper from Peter Carlson at the 1:28 mark. Moore converted a pair of charity tosses for NUV-Johnson with 18 seconds remaining for the final 79-54 Middlebury victory. 
 
Sobel led all players with 25 points, shooting 11-12 from the floor, recording a game-high six blocks while grabbing nine boards. Noah Osher had 15 points with five rebounds, while Brennan chipped in with 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the Panthers.
 
Moore led the badges with 18 points, shooting 3-3 from beyond the arc, while pulling down five boards. Samuel Stevens chipped in with 11 points, while Romelle Watt had nine rebounds.