The victory was the 12th for the Dutchmen in 14 games.
Trailing by nine, 77-68, with 3:36 left to play, sophomore forward Brian Scordato started the comeback by scoring six consecutive points to pull the Dutchmen to within 77-74 with 2:36 remaining. Scordato’s first three points came as he was fouled while converting a layup off an offensive rebound and then connecting from the free throw line. His other three points came as he canned a long field goal to pull the Dutchmen within three.
After a Middlebury timeout, sophomore point guard Chris Murphy got the Dutchmen within two as he hit one of two free throws. The Panthers’ regained a three-point advantage as Nate Anderson hit one of two charity shots with 1:06 remaining. Union’s senior captain, Imbrie Packard, brought Union back to within two, 78-76, with 16 seconds left as he hit the first of two free throws. Packard then rebounded his own missed shot back to Murphy who fed Cagianello for what proved to be the game-winning three-point field goal.
Middlebury, which fell to 9-4, missed its opportunity to pull out the win when the Panthers missed a three-point field goal and two jump shot attempts in the final four seconds.
Cagianello led the Dutchmen with 22 points while Scordato finished with 15 and Packard with 13. Scordato also had a team-high eight assists. Middlebury’s Mike Salek finished with 17 points.
UNION (12-2) John Cagianello 9-16 2-3 22; Brian Scordato 5-9 3-5 15; Imbrie Packard 4-5 4-5 13; Ryan Freundlich 4-7 1-1 9; Chris Murphy 2-6 3-5 8; Devon Bruce 2-5 1-2 6; T.J. Ramey 0-1 4-4 4; Jim Rahill 1-2 0-0 2; Joseph Mackey 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-53 18-25 79. MIDDLEBURY (9-4) Mike Salek 5-8 3-4 17; Clark Read 5-14 2-2 14; Bobby Marcoux 5-8 0-0 10; Nate Anderson 4-17 2-5 10; Koby Altman 4-7 0-1 9; John Donnelly 3-8 1-2 7; Simon Behan 1-1 3-3 6; David Coratti 1-2 0-0 3; Chris Matthiesen 1-1 0-0 2; John Versoza 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-67 11-17 78. Union......................... 43 36 - 79 Middlebury.................... 46 32 - 78 3-point goals-Union 7-19 (John Cagianello 2-6; Brian Scordato 2-4; Chris Murphy 1-3; Devon Bruce 1-2; Imbrie Packard 1-2; Jim Rahill 0-1; T.J. Ramey 0-1), Middlebury 9-21 (Mike Salek 4-6; Clark Read 2-4; Koby Altman 1-3; David Coratti 1-1; Simon Behan 1-1; John Versoza 0-1; John Donnelly 0-1; Nate Anderson 0-4). Fouled out--Union-None, Middlebury-None. Rebounds-Union 31 (Brian Scordato 8), Middlebury 42 (Bobby Marcoux 8). Assists-Union 12 (Chris Murphy 4), Middlebury 15 (Koby Altman 5; Simon Behan 5). Total fouls-Union 16, Middlebury 21. A-144 UC got an offensive rebound after a missed FT before Cagianello hit a 3 with 14 seconds left to put them up 79-78 (their 1st lead of the 2nd half)... MC had 3 chances to win it in the final 10 seconds, but all 3 shots missed.