Amherst is now 20-3 overall and 8-1 in the NESCAC; Williams also completed the regular season with an 8-1 record in conference play, but Amherst will host the NESCAC Tournament by virtue of the Jeffs' 67-61 win over the Ephs on Jan. 25.
This year, the NESCAC Tournament will feature eight teams, one more than in previous years, so Amherst will not get a first round bye, as other top seeds have in the past. Instead, the Lord Jeffs will host the 8th-seeded Polar Bears of Bowdoin College this Saturday in the tournament's opening round. This is the second time in as many years that the two schools have met in the first-round, the Jeffs defeated the Polar Bears 71-61 last season en route to their second consecutive NESCAC Championships. Amherst has continued its success against Bowdoin this year, thumping Bowdoin 86-56 in Maine few weeks ago while playing without the services of senior tri-captain Pat Fitzsimons.
"Bowdoin has a lot of good shooters, but if we are able to contain their shooters and play at the same intensity level that we played with at Bowdoin then I don't think that they can match up with us," said Adam Harper '04. "They are the first team in the way of us achieving our second goal of the season, which is to win the NESCAC Tourney and the automatic birth. So hopefully we will continue to get better and take care of Bowdoin in the process."
Amherst began this past weekend's homestand with a game against Connecticut College, a match-up featuring the NESCAC's best and worst teams. In the midst of a rebuilding year with a new coach and many new faces, Conn. was simply no match for an experienced and determined Amherst team. The Jeffs stormed out to a 42-26 lead at the half and cruised to an easy 79-62 victory.
Andrew Schiel '05 led Amherst with 16 points while John Donovan '04 had 13, thanks to a 4-4 shooting effort from three-point range.
The following day Amherst hosted Little III-rival Wesleyan University with the knowledge that a win would assure them a first-place finish in the NESCAC, and with an 81-72 win, the Jeffs did just that.
The Wesleyan game was also Senior Day, an opportunity for the team to pay tribute to the seniors, Fitzsimons, tri-captains Steve Zieja and Ryan Faulkner, Sulaiman Jenkins, and Neil Somers, as they played in their last regular season game at LeFrak Gymnasium. The five seniors were honored before the game and comprised Amherst's starting lineup.
Wesleyan, who lost to Amherst earlier in the season on their home court, kept the game close early in the first half, but midway through the opening frame, the Jeffs mustered a 20-6 run which put them firm in control.
Amherst extended its lead to 24 in the second half, and although Wesleyan mounted a late charge to reduce the deficit to nine by game's end, the outcome of the game was hardly in doubt at any point in the half.
Donovan continued his hot shooting and led all scorers with 22 points.
With less than a minute to play in the game, Head Coach Dave Hixon '75 inserted his senior class into the lineup. After a few trips up and down the court the seniors were substituted out as a group; they left the court to a standing ovation, as the Amherst crowd showed their gratitude for one of the great classes in the history of the Amherst basketball program.
Zieja, Fitzsimons and Faulkner have started together for the past three seasons and rightly receive many accolades, but when asked to comment on the Class of 2003, Hixon made sure to highlight the contributions of Jenkins and Somers.
"Everyone knows about Steve, Ryan and Fitzy," said Hixon, "but Neil and Suli have done a phenomenal job for us all season."
Somers and Jenkins didn't play on the team last year and neither saw much court time this season, as Amherst boasts a particularly talented and deep group of players. But both seniors made significant contributions to the team, even if mostly unnoticed by the Amherst community at large.
Somers, for instance, volunteered his services to Hixon early in the first semester when the team was temporarily short on big men. Somers knew that he would never play much on game day, but his presence was instrumental in allowing the team to continue practicing at full speed.
"My heart and respect go out to Neil and Suli who have played the unrecognized role they have all season long," said Hixon.