The Middlebury men's basketball team trimmed the deficit to four early in the second half on Sunday, but Carnegie Mellon withstood the charge and secured a 70-57 triumph. The contest was the program's second game as part of the UAA Challenge hosted by Bowdoin.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Tied at 7-7 with 14:21 left in the opening half, the Tartans rattled off a 13-3 run spanning 3:59 of action, fueled by six points from Ian Brown.
• The Panthers cut the deficit to seven (20-13) on a pair of free throws from Ian Murray with 9:47 remaining.
• Carnegie Mellon responded with a 10-2 surge over the next 3:31, grabbing a 30-15 advantage. Buckley DeJardin capped the jolt with a charity toss.
• The Tartans maintained a double-digit lead over the remainder of the half, before five quick points on a layup by Murray and a three-point shot from Evan Flaks pulled Middlebury within 10 (37-27) at halftime.
• The Panthers continued to ride the momentum to open the second half, posting the initial six points to make it a 37-33 contest at the 17:58 mark.
• The tide quickly changed in favor of Carnegie Mellon, who answered with a 15-2 run covering the next six minutes to rebuild a 52-35 lead on a bucket from DeJardin with 11:15 left.
• Middlebury whittled the deficit to eight (54-46) over the next four minutes. Murray finished the performance via two free throws at the 7:43 mark.
• Carnegie Mellon recorded the next six points on a trio of baskets from Nikola Dimitruevic and maintained the double-digit advantage down the stretch en route to a 70-57 decision.

NOTES

• Murray led the Panther output with 18 points and pulled down a career-best eight rebounds. He added a pair of assists and had two steals.
• Kuba Cwalina also finished in double figures, scoring 13 points off the bench. The double-digit effort is his seventh this season and the 10th straight dating back to last winter.
• The programs met for just the third time with the Tartans picking up their second triumph.

Middlebury has a break from competition for final exams and the holidays before returning to action on December 28 against Wheaton (Mass.) during the Dr. Carol V. De Costa/Go 4 the Goal Tournament hosted by Medgar Evers.