The third-ranked Middlebury men's basketball team battled back from a 21-point halftime deficit to pull within three before falling by an 89-85 score at Wesleyan on Friday night.

 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Cardinals jumped out to an early 15-2 lead in the opening 4:34, capped by an old-fashioned three-point play from Jared Langs.
• Leading by 10 (27-17) at the 8:24 mark, Wesleyan drained five threes on five-consecutive possessions to expand its lead to 39-17.
• The Cardinals pushed the lead to as many as 27 (46-19), before a 6-0 Middlebury run highlighted by two layups from Alex Sobel made the score 46-25 heading into the halftime break.
• The Panthers picked up where they left off to begin the second stanza, rattling off six-unanswered points. The spurt was capped by a layup from Jaden Bobbett to cut the deficit to 15 (46-31).
• Trailing 56-43 with 5:50 elapsed, Middlebury continued to chip away at the lead. The visitors scored 12 of the next 17 points, as a shot from beyond the arc by Evan Flaks at the 11:02 mark moved Middlebury to within six (61-55).
• Flaks nailed a three-pointer with 9:58 remaining to bring the Panthers to within three (63-60),but that was as close as Middlebury would get. 
• Wesleyan responded with a 10-0 run of its own to take a 73-60 lead. From there, the Cardinals held off the Panthers and knocked down their late free throws to hang on for the 89-85 victory.

• Flaks poured in a career-high 24 points during the contest.
• Sobel's 18 points and three blocked shots continued a pair of streaks. He has scored in double-figures over the last 29-straight games, while blocking at least one shot in 44 consecutive.