The Middlebury men's basketball team battled Williams in a back-and-forth contest on Saturday, but the Ephs posted a 12-0 second-half run and held off a late Panther charge for the final 91-82 tally.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Middlebury raced out to a quick 5-0 lead on a pull-up jumper from Noah Osher and a three-point field goal by Lamine Cisse.
• The Ephs answered with a 13-2 run covering 3:05 of action, taking a 13-7 advantage on a hook shot by Brandon Roughley with 15:45 remaining.
• The Panthers cut into the deficit, pulling to within one (15-14) on a basket from Osher with 12:56 left.
• Williams put together a 10-2 spurt over the next three minutes, grabbing its largest lead of the opening frame (25-16) on a jumper from Hudson Hansen.
• The hosts battled back again, knotting the contest at 30-30 with 4:48 left before the half on a dunk by Mark Newell.
• Tied at 34-34, the Ephs closed the stanza scoring eight of the last 13 points, securing a 42-39 halftime edge on a driving layup from Cole Prowitt-Smith.
• The teams traded small leads after the break before a bucket by Osher gave Middlebury a 56-52 edge with 14:00 remaining.
• Williams rattled off a 12-0 run over the next 2:33 for an eight-point advantage (64-56), capped on a free throw from Sammy Cooley.
• The visitors maintained their lead and pushed it to double digits (77-67) with 5:14 showing on the clock.
• The Panthers fought back and moved to within five (87-82) on a putback layup from David Brennan with 23 ticks left, but Williams converted all four of its free throws for the final 91-82 score.

NOTES

• Osher ended the contest with a game-high 26 points, moving him into 19th place in the program's record books with 1,073. He also recorded a career-best five steals.
• Brennan posted his fourth double-double this season and the 13th of his career, finishing with 10 points and a contest-best 11 boards. He has pulled down a double-digit rebounding total in a game for the 11th time this winter.
• Flaks tied his career high with six assists to go along with 10 points off the bench in just 22 minutes.
• The programs played for the 116th time in an all-time series that began in 1919.

Middlebury returns to NESCAC action when it travels to Bates on Friday for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.