Men’s Basketball: You Win Some, You Lose Some

The men’s basketball team sealed away its 2018-19 regular season schedule with two NESCAC conference games this past Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8 and 9. Middlebury hosted No. 8 Hamilton (5-3 in the NESCAC) on Friday night, pulling off a 80-79 win over the Continentals. 

Max Bosco ’21 shot a three with 2.4 seconds left in the game, propelling the Panthers to a one-point win as the buzzer sounded. 

“Anything that we had to do to win and get the chance to clinch home court for [the] NESCAC tournament was big. We didn’t give up, even down a few points, and coming up with a win definitely propelled us with energy into Saturday against Amherst,” said Bosco. 

Middlebury faced No. 19 Amherst on Saturday afternoon in Pepin Gymnasium and ultimately fell to the Mammoths 97-93. Jack Farrell ’21 led the Panthers in points, posting up 22, and Bosco and Eric McCord ’19 each had 12. Amherst tallied the final five points for the victory. 

The Panthers stand second in the NESCAC, as Amherst and Hamilton will play a makeup game on Tuesday night, Feb. 12, which will determine the final conference standings. Middlebury comes in hot to the postseason with an 18-6 record, and 7-2 in the NESCAC. 

“Against both Hamilton and Amherst we played really good, team basketball,” commented Bosco. “We all wanted to win for each other, which was great.”

The Panthers will stay attentive to the outcome of the NESCAC game on Tuesday night, but have a focus at practice this week.

“We feel confident in how we are playing right now, but will continue to work on defensive intensity,” said Bosco. “We came into both games this past weekend with a lot of energy and well-prepared.”

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