Courtesy Middlebury Sports Information

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Fifth-seeded Middlebury fell 73-65 at fourth-seeded Wesleyan in a NESCAC Quarterfinal game played in Connecticut. The Panthers see their record fall to 19-6 overall and will hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals (20-5) advance to next weekend’s NESCAC semifinal round.

Tied at 12-12, Middlebury went on a quick 6-0 spurt at the 9:26 mark, taking an 18-12 lead in a jumper from Adisa Majors with 7:21 on the clock. The Cardinals answered with a pair of threes to tie the game, as the back-and-forth first half continued. The Panther lead again grew to six (29-23) with 2:27 remaining on a layup from Jack Daly. Wesleyan cut the advantage to one before a three from Matt Folger gave the visitors a 32-28 lead at the half.

In the second session, the Panthers went up by six on two occasions before a layup from Jordan Sears tied the game at 50-50 with 7:56 remaining. The game was later tied for a seventh time (52-52), before the Cardinals slowly moved ahead with a 12-3 run over a 4:36 span. Six points came from the line, while JR Bascom added five. Middlebury cut the lead to five (64-59) on a hoop from Griffin Kornaker with 2:08 to go, but 9-12 free-throw shooting down the stretch sealed the 73-65 win for the hosts.

Daly finished with 20 points to lead all scorers, while Folger netted 17 and Kornaker added nine. Majors scored seven with six rebounds, Folger grabbed six boards and had four steals, while Daly dished out six assists.

Jordan Bonner paced Wesleyan with 18 points, Kevin O’Brien added 17 with nine rebounds and seven assists, while Antone Walker netted 11. Bascom finished with seven points and nine boards.