The Middlebury men's basketball team led by double figures midway through the second half, but a late surge by the University of Rochester pushed the Yellowjackets past the Panthers 79-77 on Saturday afternoon. The contest served as the program's opener at the UAA Challenge hosted by Bowdoin.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The sides traded buckets to open the contest. Tomiwa Adetosoye and Ian Murray led their teams with eight and five points, respectively, as the Yellowjackets held a 16-9 lead with 13:20 remaining.
• The Panthers battled back, rattling off 13 of the next 16 points over 3:14 of action to take a 22-19 edge. Kuba Cwalina capped the surge with a layup.
• Middlebury continued to build its cushion. Seven different players tallied points as part of a 19-10 stretch to open a 12-point margin (41-29) at the 2:47 mark, led by five points from Cwalina.
• Rochester trimmed the deficit to eight via consecutive buckets from Jordan Owusu and Adetosoye before a layup by Cwalina made the score 43-33 at the half. 
• The Yellowjackets chipped away at the deficit early in the second half. Adetosoye led the charge with four points to make the score 51-44 with 16:35 remaining.
• Middlebury responded with five of the next seven to return the lead to 11 (56-45).
• Rochester charged back in front, ripping off a 24-8 run over nearly nine minutes to grab a 65-62 advantage with 6:41 left. Adetosoye paced the offense with 11 points in the span.
• Middlebury tried to find its footing immediately after. Two free throws by Sawyer Ramey and a layup from Jackson McKersie bookended an 8-4 spurt, trimming the deficit to two (72-70) at the 3:33 mark.
• The Panthers and Yellowjackets traded baskets as the clock ran down. A layup by Evan Flaks and two charity stripe makes from Dominick Ducree sliced the lead to 75-74 with 2:22 remaining.
• Following a missed free throw, Middlebury charged down the floor in search of the equalizer. A Rochester steal forced a Panther foul and Owsus made one of two to set a 79-75 score with four ticks left.
• Flaks drove the length of the floor and made a layup as time expired, but the Yellowjackets escaped with the 79-77 victory.

NOTES

• Cwalina led the Panthers with 15 points and connected on three shots from behind the arc. He has scored double-digit points in each of the squad's six contests.
• Mark Newell had a team-high seven rebounds in a game that featured a 43-37  Middlebury edge on the glass.
• The programs met for the fifth time in a series dating back to the 2008 NCAA Regional round.

The Panthers return to the floor for their final game before winter break against Carnegie Mellon on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.