NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's basketball team played No. 10 Middlebury competitively for 30 minutes before ultimately falling to the Panthers by a 77-61 decision on Saturday afternoon at the Charles B. Luce Field House.

The first half alone featured 13 lead changes and four ties between the teams. The margin stayed within one possession until junior Jack Zimmerman (Bedford, N.H.) found classmate Jeff Allen (Madison, Conn.) for a 3-pointer to give the Camels a 14-10 lead with 11:51 remaining. Middlebury, however, was able to regain the lead and take a little momentum into halftime by most notably getting a trifecta from Max Bosco down the stretch.

Despite trailing 31-30 at the break and falling behind by eight in the second half due to a pair of back-to-back jumpers made by Jack Farrell, the Camels fought back and embarked on a 13-2 run to move back ahead with 13 minutes to go with Allen leading the charge. But after senior Patrick Lazor (West Hartford, Conn.) put back a miss to give the hosts a 47-46 edge with 11:18 left, the Panthers got an old-fashioned 3-point play from Tommy Eastman to provide them a spark. Middlebury scored 13 of the next 16 points and built the margin up to as many as 18 before eventually coming away with the 16-point victory.

Eastman finished with a team-leading 20 points by most notably shooting an efficient 9-of-11 from the field to lead the way for Middlebury (18-3, NESCAC 4-3). Griffin Kornmaker fell just shy of a double-double with nine points and nine assists to go along with three steals, while Bosco also reached twin figures with 12 points. Matt Folger contributed eight points and four blocks.

Allen paced Connecticut College by providing a double-double effort with 22 points and 11 boards. Draffan registered 17 points, and Zimmerman dished out four assists.

Connecticut College (3-16, NESCAC 0-6) will play its final non-conference game of the season when it hosts Regis on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m.