Courtesy Middlebury Sports Information<\/p>\n
BROCKPORT, NY. — Middlebury advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 78-69 victory over Westfield State (20-8) in a game played at SUNY Brockport. The 19th-ranked Panthers (21-5) will take on the host school, a 92-86 winner over The Coast Guard Academy, at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Middlebury was down 10-2 early, but battled back. A 10-1 run gave the Panthers a 12-11 lead on a layup from Ryan Cahill at the 11:49 mark.<\/p>\n
The game remained tight, with Middlebury going on a 5-0 spurt beginning at the 6:25 mark to put the home team up, 25-22. A layup from Matt Folger and a three from Tommy Eastman sparked the run.<\/p>\n
With the game tied at 27-27, Westfield State went on a 13-2 run, holding a 40-29 advantage with 21 seconds remaining in the half. A three at the buzzer from Middlebury’s Max Bosco made it a 40-32 game at the break.<\/p>\n
The Panthers were just 3-19 from three-point range in the first half, while the Owls shot 46.9 percent from the floor.<\/p>\n
Middlebury came out flying in the second half, going on a 7-0 run to move ahead 47-44 on back-to-back threes from Bosco and Folger.<\/p>\n
Trailing 53-51, the Panthers hit consecutive threes once again, this time from Jack Farrell and Bosco to take a 57-53 lead with 11:15 showing on the clock.<\/p>\n
Westfield State led 58-57 when Middlebury scored 10 of the next 13 points to go ahead 67-61 at the 7:01 mark. A Bosco three and a trey from the left corner by Cahill led the charge.<\/p>\n
The Panthers maintained a lead of five or more for the remainder of the game. The Owls had a couple of chances to make it a three-point game, but could not connect. Eastman sealed the game late with a three-point play on a fastbreak, as the Panthers emerged with the 78-69 victory.<\/p>\n
Eastman paced the Panthers with 19 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Bosco added 18, while Farrell finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Folger earned his ninth double-double of the season (26th career) by scoring 10 with 13 rebounds, while Cahill scored 10. Griffin Kornacker added eight points and five assists.<\/p>\n
Westfield’s Jauch Green, Jr. led all scorers with 23 points, while Moody Bey added 19 to go along with eight steals. Brendon Hamilton finished with seven points and a team-high 11 boards.<\/p>\n
The Panthers held a sizable 55-38 advantage on the boards as both teams shot just under 40 percent. Westfield went 14-27 from the free-throw line, while Middlebury connected on 10-31 three-point attempts.<\/p>\n
With his 10 points, Folger moved into ninth place all-time at Middlebury with (1,241) points, surpassing Kevin Cummings ’76 (1,236 points).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Courtesy Middlebury Sports Information BROCKPORT, NY. — Middlebury advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 78-69 victory over Westfield State (20-8) in a game played at SUNY Brockport. The 19th-ranked Panthers (21-5) will take on the host school, a 92-86 winner over The Coast Guard Academy, at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[280,279],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n