The Middlebury men's basketball team pulled to within three points late in Friday's first half but could not get any closer, falling 74-55 to Connecticut College from Pepin Gymnasium.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Camels found a spark to begin the first stanza, racing out to a 13-2 lead with 14:59 remaining on a basket by Andrew Hartel.
• Middlebury began to chip away at the deficit. Two jumpers by Sam Stevens bookended an 18-8 surge to cut the score to 21-20 at the 8:20 mark. The Panther defense held Connecticut College to 4-of-16 from the field in that span.
• The sides continued to trade buckets for the rest of the half until the Camels stretched their lead to six (28-22) on another layup by Hartel with under three minutes left. 
• Later in the frame, Mark Newell converted a layup to make it a three-point contest (30-27) before Espinosa made a bucket with one second remaining to put the visitors ahead 32-27 at the halftime break.
• Connecticut College grabbed control to begin the second stanza, scoring 22 of the opening 30 points to build a game-high 22-point edge (56-34) with 8:54 remaining. Espinosa led the charge with eight points.
• Middlebury slowly whittled away, moving to within 60-45 on a free throw by Tristan Joseph at the 5:05 mark. 
• The difference dwindled closer to single digits as a jumper from Evan Flaks swelled into an 11-5 run to make it a 66-55 contest with just over two minutes left.
• The Panthers could not get any closer, as the Camels ripped off eight-consecutive points for the 74-55 triumph.

NOTES

• Stevens put up 25 points for his fifth contest of 20 or more this season.
• Kuba Cwalina was the other Panther in double figures with 14 and tallied a team-high four three-pointers.
• Middlebury and Connecticut College met for the 45th time.

The Panthers welcome #9 Tufts to close the NESCAC weekend on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.