The Middlebury men's basketball team jumped out to a 7-2 lead early in the first half and never looked back, defeating Clark University 75-68 in its home opener on Wednesday from Pepin Gymnasium.

HIGHLIGHTS 

• The Panthers rattled off seven of the opening nine points behind five from Evan Flaks to take a 7-2 edge at the 17:15 mark.
• The Cougars hung around, cutting the deficit down to one on a pair of occasions. Ahead 15-14, with 11:46 remaining, Kuba Cwalina nailed a three that swelled into nine consecutive points for the home team to build a 24-14 advantage.
• Middlebury's lead continued to grow off the hot hand of Sam Stevens, as the guard rattled off a 5-0 burst to give the Panthers their largest lead of the opening half (32-19) with 5:16 left.
• Bruce Santillis helped chip away at the deficit for the visitors by netting consecutive layups to make it an eight-point contest (34-26) at the 1:48 mark of the half.
• Flaks extended the Panther lead back out to double-digits by sinking a jumper with 29 ticks left to put Middlebury up 38-28 heading into the locker room.
• The Panthers came out firing to open the second stanza. Tristan Joseph converted a shot from beyond the arc and David Brennan muscled home a layup to increase the cushion to 44-28.
• Clark answered with an 8-0 spurt led by four points from Kekoa McArdle to jump back within eight with 13:32 remaining. 
• The Panthers continued their march towards the finish line, eventually building the lead back up to 63-48 on a three in the corner from Joseph at the 7:31 mark.
• The Cougars responded, putting together an impressive 21-8 run over the ensuing 6:43 of action, cutting the advantage down to four (70-66). The span was highlighted by eight points from Bruce Santilus, while Neuman capped the run with a three with just 48 ticks left on the clock.
• Middlebury would not be denied its home opener, going five-for-six at the charity stripe to secure the 75-68 triumph.

NOTES

• Stevens led all scorers with 25 points while Joseph tallied 15 of his 18 in the second half
• With his 10 rebounds, Brennan has now tallied 32 contests with double-digit boards.
• The Panthers and the Cougars played for the 26th time. 

Middlebury continues its three-game homestand with a battle against Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.