MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Middlebury College closed the game on a 11-0 run to turn a 10-point deficit into a 73-72 win over Union College in non-conference men's basketball action on Thursday evening at Pepin Gymnasium.
 
Junior Jack Plesser led all scorers with 26 points for Union (2-1), followed by classmate Tanner Tedesco with 18 points and senior Christian Dufort with 16. Plesser added 10 rebounds and Dufort grabbed a game-high 11 to both finish with double-doubles, and Tedesco tied for the game-high with six assists as well.
 
Dominic Ducree led Middlebury (1-1) with 23 points as part of a bench unit that outscored its Union counterparts by a 49-10 margin to emerge with the win.
 
The teams remained within one possession for much of the opening 10 minutes, until a 15-4 run gave the Panthers the largest lead of the opening frame at 28-19 with 5:48 on the clock. However, the visitors responded with a 15-2 run to regain the advantage, helped by seven points from Plesser and a pair of Tedesco three-pointers. Two more layups by Plesser allowed the Garnet Chargers to take a 38-34 lead into halftime, as the visitors shot 14-of-29 (48.3 percent) from the field over the first 20 minutes of action.
 
The Garnet Chargers led for almost the entirety of the second stanza, building their lead to as many as 14 points after the second of two Tedesco three-pointers with 6:36 remaining put the visitors up 70-56. A Plesser jumper with 3:28 on the clock stemmed a mini 6-0 run and put the score at 72-62 in favor of Union, but the team missed its final six shots of the game to allow the Panthers back into the contest.
 
A quick 7-0 Panther run made it a one-possession game at 72-70 with 2:19 on the clock, and the teams traded misses over the next two minutes. Middlebury got the ball back with 25 seconds left and Ducree ended the stalemate with a three-pointer that gave the Panthers their first lead of the half with 10 seconds left. After a timeout, Union misfired on its last attempt to suffer its first loss of the season.
 
Union finished the game shooting 44.4 percent (28 of 63) from the field, while Middlebury finished the evening at 39.7 percent (29 of 73).
 
The Garnet Chargers will return to action on Saturday with a 2 p.m. matchup at Plattsburgh State.