Courtesy Middlebury Sports Information

MIDDLEBURY — The #5 Middlebury men’s basketball team went on its decisive 31-12 run in the second half to pull away for a 93-71 victory over visiting Bowdoin (5-10, 1-3) on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Panthers improve to 16-2 overall and 2-2 in conference play. Middlebury returns to action on Saturday, January 25th when it hosts Williams for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off, while the Polar Bears head to #12 Colby on the same day.

Tied 9-9 with 15:49 showing on the clock, Middlebury went on a 10-2 run capped by a three from Perry DeLorenzo to make it 19-11. Bowdoin cut the deficit to three (23-20) on a layup by Jack Shea with 10:36 remaining in the opening stanza. The Panthers responded with a 7-1 burst, increasing the lead to 30-21 with 7:06 left to go in the half. The Polar Bears got within three (34-31) on a pair of free throws by Sam Grad, but Middlebury extended the advantage to 40-34 heading into intermission.

Out of the break, the Panthers went on their decisive 31-12 run over 8:17 of play. During the stretch, Ryan Cahill scored three from beyond the arc, while Matt Folger and Griffin Kornaker each netted a pair of three-pointers to extend the Middlebury lead to 71-48. The Polar Bears answered with a 14-4 spurt, cutting it to 76-62 with a trio of charity tosses from David Reynolds, but that was as close as they would get as the Panthers cruised to the 93-71 victory.

With the win, Middlebury eclipsed the 90-point mark for the fifth time this season as the team shot 47.1% (16-34) from beyond the arc and 77.8% from the floor. It was Folger’s 100th game as a Panther and his 11 points moved him into 12th on Middlebury’s all-time points list with 1,138, surpassing Dave Pentkowski’s 1,131 from 1971-75. Folger also grabbed seven rebounds, while Kornakerdished out a career-high eight assists. Max Bosco led the Panthers with 19 points, while he grabbed five rebounds. Tommy Eastman netted 17, while Jack Farrell had 16 points and six boards.

Reynolds led all players in points (23) and rebounds (9), while Grad netted 16 points, grabbed five boards and had two blocks for the Polar Bears. Stephen Ferraro and Zander Werkamn each scored 12 points.