AMHERST, Mass. – Senior forward Alex Sobel scored 19 points to lead Middlebury College to a 53-46 win over the Amherst College men's basketball team in NESCAC action on Saturday afternoon at LeFrak Gymnasium.

The Panthers, ranked eighth in the nation in the latest D3hoops.com poll, improved to 11-2 overall, while the Mammoths fell to 5-8 overall, with both teams' NESCAC records moving to 1-1 after the opening weekend of conference play.

The Mammoths are back in action on Friday (Jan. 13), continuing NESCAC play with a visit to Tufts for a 7 p.m. tilt.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Panthers opened the game on an 8-2 run and never trailed in the contest. A layup from sophomore forward Ryker Vance brought the Mammoths back within one with 13:17 to go in the first half, but Middlebury responded with a 8-0 run to take a 17-8 lead midway through the first half.

* Back-to-back threes from first-year Chris Hammond made it a one-possession game, but an 8-2 Middlebury run put the Panthers back up by nine. Neither team scored for the final two-and-a-half minutes of the first half and Middlebury took a 25-16 lead to halftime.

* The Panthers held Amherst at arm's length for the second half. Back-to-back baskets from first-years Jackson McKersie and Evan Flaks gave the Panthers a 48-36 lead, their largest of the game, with four minutes to play.

* The Mammoths rallied in the closing minutes to cut the lead to five. Consecutive possessions resulted in free throws for sophomore guard Canin Reynolds and he made all five. Reynolds raced end-to-end and scored to cut the Middlebury lead to five with 5.7 seconds to play but the final buzzer sounded before the Mammoths could get any closer.

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Sophomore center Will Scherer tallied his third double-double of the season, leading the Mammoths with 12 points on 6-of-10 field-goal shooting and 11 rebounds.

* Both teams struggled shooting but controlled the ball well. The Mammoths shot 32 percent (16-of-50) from the floor and 29 percent (4-of-14) from beyond the arc, while the Panthers were 30 percent (19-of-64) from the floor and 13 percent (2-of-15) from beyond the arc.

* Middlebury committed only 6 turnovers in the game, while Amherst made only 11 turnovers. After committing only eight turnovers in last night's win over Williams, Amherst made the fewest turnovers of any games this season in this weekend's two games.

* Sophomore forward David Brennan grabbed 18 rebounds for Middlebury as the Panthers held a 49-36 advantage on the glass.