The Middlebury men's basketball team dropped its second-to-last non-conference game of the season in an 85-67 decision at #23-ranked Keene State. Three Panthers tallied double-figures, including a team-leading 15 points from Tristan Joseph.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Both sides traded buckets early in the first half until a three-point field goal in the right corner by Joseph gave the visitors a 9-8 edge with 16:37 left.
• The back-and-forth continued as Joshua Williams matched a layup from Sam Stevens with a three-pointer to knot the score at 18-18 at the 12:03 mark.
• Mitchell Shettles and Liam Johnston broke the tie with consecutive threes to push the Owls ahead by six (24-18) and force a Panther timeout.
• Middlebury slowly chipped away at the deficit, cutting it to 35-33 on a bucket from Stevens with 2:22 remaining.
• Keene State held the Panthers scoreless for the final 2:22 as layups from Shettles and Ryan Blakey gave the hosts a six-point edge (39-33) heading into halftime.
• Middlebury continued to search for a spark with a tough driving layup by Sawyer Ramey cutting the deficit to four (49-45) with 12:36 remaining. 
• The Owls grabbed the momentum back again immediately after Ramey's bucket. Two free throws by Leo Chaikin swelled into a decisive 20-8 run to give the hosts a 69-53 advantage with 7:18 to go.
• That was as close as Middlebury would get as Keene State grabbed the 85-67 triumph.

NOTES

• David Brennan pulled down a game-high 19 rebounds, marking his ninth game of 10 or more this season.
• Joseph tallied his seventh game of 15 or more points.
• Middlebury and Keene State met for the 15th time.

The Panthers return to conference action with a road matchup against Williams on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.