The Middlebury men's basketball team went back and forth with the St. Joseph's College (Maine) Monks but fell 93-82 in the championship game of the Middlebury Invitational. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Both teams searched for momentum early in the opening half. John Paul Frazier started to warm up for the Monks, nailing back-to-back three-point field goals to push the visitors ahead at 15-11 with 15:04 remaining.
• Middlebury scored nine of the next 13 points, capped by a Sawyer Ramey driving layup, to take a 20-19 edge at the 12:33 mark.
• The cat-and-mouse game continued with the teams trading buckets until Teagan Hynes converted consecutive free throws to give St. Joe's a 31-26 edge with about seven minutes to play.
• Tristan Joseph sliced the deficit down to a possession (35-33) with two from the charity stripe before a Frazier three sparked an 8-0 surge to put the visitors ahead 43-33 with 2:53 on the clock.
• The Panthers mustered one final push to end the half with seven of the next eight points, finished on two free throws from Evan Flaks with less than a second remaining to make it a four-point contest (44-40). 
• The Monks came out firing in the second by starting on a 10-5 burst to rebuild their lead to 54-45 just 4:41 into the frame. 
• Middlebury continued to trim away at the deficit, getting it down to a 56-52 ballgame with about 13 minutes left on a three-pointer from Kuba Cwalina.
• The Monks ripped off a 13-4 run over 5:04 of game action for a 69-56 edge with 6:44 left. Pitia Donato finished the blitz with a driving layup.
• Edward Witherington helped move the deficit down to eight (85-77) on a three from the right wing at the 1:14 mark. The Panthers did not get any closer as the Monks grabbed the 93-82 victory. 

NOTES

• Joseph led the Middlebury offense with 20 points, marking the fourth time the guard has gone north of 20 in a Panther uniform.
• Flaks put together a solid effort, tallying 17 points and dishing out five assists.
• With his eight rebounds, David Brennan passed Alex Sobel '23 for third in program history in career rebounds with 820.
• Flaks and Sam Stevens represented Middlebury on the all-tournament team. St. Joseph's Remijo Wani was named the most outstanding player. Rounding out the all-tournament team selections were Frazier, Kendall Arcuri (Cortland) and Shea Fitzgerald (Vassar).
• The Panthers and Monks matched up for the first time in men's basketball.

Middlebury hits the road for a three-game trip beginning Monday against Hunter College at 5:00 p.m.