MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Jack Daly scored 20 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to help pace the eighth-ranked Middlebury College men's basketball team to a 74-58 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology in the championship game of the 2017 Middlebury Tournament.
With the win the Panthers improve to 2-0 on the season while the Leopards suffer their first setback, falling to 2-1.
Senior Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) and sophomore Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) each poured in 19 points to lead Wentworth and both earned spots on the all-tournament team. Over the course of the two-day stretch, Ganley dropped 46 points with 12 rebounds, while Azums totaled 34 points and 23 boards.
Tied at 8-all with just under 11 minutes remaining in the opening half, Middlebury rattled off a quick, 8-2 run over a span of 1:26, including a four-point play from Max Bosco. The Leopards answered with back-to-back three pointers from senior Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) tying the score at 16-all. Clinging to a one-point edge at 19-18 with 6:19 left, Middlebury put together an 11-2 run covering nearly the next three minutes, capped off on a free throw from Matt Folger. A layup from Adisa Majors in the final seconds of the stanza gave Middlebury a 38-28 advantage at the break.
Out of halftime, the Leopards chipped away at the deficit cutting it to seven (48-41) on a layup from by sophomore Matt Vartanian (Salem, N.H.) with 14:17 remaining. The Panthers responded with six straight points on a pair of jumpers from Folger and a fast break layup from Bosco and took a 13-point lead with just under 11 minutes left. Wentworth clawed back again to within seven (61-54) on a jumper from Ganley with 4:44 remaining, but the Panthers scored the next five points to bring the lead back to double digits and never looked back.
Azums recorded a double-double for Wentworth has he had a dozen rebounds to go along with his 19-point performance. He was 8-for-13 from the floor for the game. Kizel chipped in with nine points, with all of his points coming from behind the arc.
In addition to his 25 points, Daly had six rebounds and six assists. Folger added 15 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks, while Majors chipped in with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. Folger also earned a spot on the all-tournament team after averaging 16 points and five rebounds over the two games.
Both teams are in action on Tuesday as Wentworth has its home opener against Lesley and Middlebury is at Johnson State.
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