MIDDLEBURY, Vt.— Middlebury College used a 19-1 run late in the first half to break open a tight game in a 69-51 men's basketball win over Skidmore College Friday night at Pepin Gymnasium. The loss leaves the Thoroughbreds with a 2-7 record entering the semester break. The Panthers are 4-6.

• Hakeem Daphnis and Aiden Roy scored 12 points each for Skidmore. Joey Skoric added nine points and three blocks, while Jack LaGarde pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
• Evan Flaks scored 17 points and had six assists for Middlebury. David Brennan had a game-high 20 rebounds, including nine offensive.
• The Thoroughbreds started strong, taking a 14-9 lead behind a pair of threes from Daphnis who scored seven of the team's first 14 points. The Panthers then held Skidmore to one field goal over the final 11:42 of the half to pull away to a 37-19 lead at the break.
• The teams played even in the second half, but Skidmore couldn't cut into the deficit
• Coach Joe Burke: "We opened the game with great energy but didn't handle their run well. As young teams do, right now we have a tendency to let things snowball and you can't fall behind against a winning program like that.
• "The first semester results aren't what we expect around here. I knew it would be tough on us but my hope is that we learned some valuable lessons. We need to use the break to get a few guys back and healthy and come back second semester and continue to improve.  It will start with a great week of practice after Christmas and then needs to carry into conference play the rest of the way." 
• The Thoroughbreds are off until a Jan. 5 Liberty League home game against Rensselaer.