Thompson added six rebounds and a team high four assists, while sophomore guard Ben Rudin (Scarsdale, NY/Scarsdale) scored 14 points and six rebounds. Sophomore center Aaron Smith (W. Hartford, CT/Hall) pulled down a team high eight rebounds and made five of his six shots from the floor for 10 points.
Union captain and senior guard Joe Mackey (Flushing, NY/Archbishop Molloy) scored a season and game high 20 points, hitting seven of his 12 shots, and added six rebounds. Junior center Kyle Grimm (Sherrill, NY/Vernon-Verona Central) led all players with nine rebounds and scored 12 for Union.
The teams were tied at the half at 29-29 and the teams traded the lead five times through the early going of the second half. But with the teams knotted at 44-44 with 13:46 left, a 21-14 run by the Panthers in the next 9:32 gave them a 65-58 lead after a layup by Thompson. Middlebury led by as many as eight (72-64 with 31 seconds left) and the Dutchmen never got closer then four the rest of the way.
Middlebury, which scored 26 points in the paint, shot 43% for the game, including 59% in the second half, and had a 40-38 rebounding edge. Union made 11 of 13 at the line (85%) but shot 39% for the night.
Middlebury vs Union 12/2/06 4:00 PM at Viniar Athletic Center, Schenectady, NY At Viniar Athletic Center, Schenectady, NY MIDDLEBURY 76, UNION 70 MIDDLEBURY (3-3) Evan Thompson 6-10 6-6 19; Ben Rudin 4-6 4-6 14; Tim Edwards 5-9 0-0 13; Andrew Harris 4-10 0-0 10; Aaron Smith 5-6 0-3 10; Chris Dowd 1-5 3-3 5; Wil Hyatt 2-3 0-0 5; Albert Handy 0-0 0-0 0; Bill Greven 0-0 0-0 0; Kyle Dudley 0-2 0-1 0; Kevin Kelleher 0-1 0-0 0; Bobby Marcoux 0-5 0-0 0; Ben Ehrlich 0-1 0-0 0; Jake Moreno-Coplon 0-2 0-0 0; Matt Westman 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 27-63 13-19 76. UNION (1-2) Joe Mackey 7-12 3-4 20; Kyle Grimm 4-13 4-4 12; Steve Madej 3-11 2-3 9; Nick DiMaggio 4-10 0-0 9; Drew Desmarais 3-7 0-0 7; Sean Clancy 3-4 0-0 7; Joey Lokitis 1-1 2-2 4; Brendan Rose 1-3 0-0 2; Bobby Hughes 0-0 0-0 0; Chris Bourke 0-0 0-0 0; Giacomo Anchisi 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 26-66 11-13 70. Middlebury.................... 29 47 - 76 Union......................... 29 41 - 70 3-point goals-Middlebury 9-24 (Tim Edwards 3-5; Andrew Harris 2-6; Ben Rudin 2-3; Evan Thompson 1-1; Wil Hyatt 1-2; Kyle Dudley 0-1; Kevin Kelleher 0-1; Chris Dowd 0-3; Matt Westman 0-2), Union 7-22 (Joe Mackey 3-6; Sean Clancy 1-2; Nick DiMaggio 1-3; Drew Desmarais 1-2; Steve Madej 1-7; Giacomo Anchisi 0-1; Kyle Grimm 0-1). Fouled out--Middlebury-None, Union-None. Rebounds-Middlebury 40 (Aaron Smith 8), Union 38 (Kyle Grimm 9). Assists-Middlebury 17 (Andrew Harris 5), Union 14 (Steve Madej 3; Nick DiMaggio 3). Total fouls-Middlebury 12, Union 21. A-220