No. 8 Middlebury Holds Off Endicott, 78-67

BEVERLY, Mass. – Led by a near triple-double from Jack Daly (Eastchester, N.Y.), the No. 8 nationally ranked Middlebury men's basketball team defeated Endicott, 78-67, on Sunday evening at MacDonald Gymnasium. 

Daly guided the Panthers with a game-high 19 points (8-23 FG, 1-5 3PT, 2-4 FT) to go along with nine assists and nine rebounds (five offensive). Middlebury also saw Nick Tarantino (Dedham, Mass.) collected a double-double on 17 points and 10 boards, while saw Matt Folger (Weston, Conn.) contribute 14 points and nine rebounds. Hilal Dahleh (Cambridge, Mass.) rounded out the list of highlights for the Panthers with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. 

Meanwhile, for Endicott, sophomore guard Keith Brown (Pelham, N.H.) posted a team-high 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting (3-7 3PT, 2-4 FT) and Joe Del Ricci (Greenville, R.I.) notched 14 points going 6-of-8 from the floor (2-3 3PT). Matt McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) also had nine points and five rebounds, while Joe Shehadi (Dorset, Vt.) filled the stat sheet with eight points (2-6 FG, 1-3 3PT, 3-3 FT), three assists and three steals. 

Middlebury charged out to a 38-23 halftime lead thanks in large part to an 11-0 run that spanned the final 3:45 of the first half. Dahleh spearheaded the spurt with five points (two FTs, one 3-pointer), while Tarantino added a layup to get the run going, and Daly and Ryan Cahill (Chester Springs, Pa.) sunk layups. 

In the second half, Endicott did bring the game within six points (59-53) via a three-pointer by Del Ricci with 7:30 left to play and once again on a layup by Brown with 6:32 to go (61-55), but Middlebury maintained its advantage the rest of the way after Dahleh (6:05, 64-55) and Tarantino (5:30, 66-55) canned a three-pointer and a layup to stave off the Gulls. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Panthers outscored Endicott, 44-16, in the paint.
• Middlebury also held a 17-6 advantage on second chance opportunities.
• The Gulls bench outscored Middlebury 33-8.
• Middlebury's starters contributed 70 of its 78 points on the day
• The Panthers are 4-2 overall in the all-time series against Endicott, and 1-1 at MacDonald Gymnasium. 
• Endicott is 1-1 against nationally ranked opponents this season.

WHAT'S NEXT 

Endicott (2-1) travels to Nichols on Wednesday, November 29 for a rematch of last year's Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) championship game at 7:30 PM. No. 8 Middlebury (4-0) hosts Plattsburgh on Tuesday, December 5 at 7:30 PM. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)