To the delight of a packed LeFrak crowd watching the trio's final home game, the Jeffs' veteran leaders came up with the most dazzling performances of their careers. The stellar triumvirate combined for 73 points, 20 rebounds and eight steals in Amherst's convincing 113-85 victory over Plymouth State College in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Jeffs-who are a perfect 6-0 all-time when hosting NCAA Tournament games-advance to the round of 16 for the third consecutive year, where they will face New Jersey City University this Friday at Franklin and Marshall College.
Jones opened Saturday's game by burying a three-pointer from the top of the key, and Amherst never looked back. The Jeffs were firing on all cylinders in the first half, balancing the interior presence of Jones and junior Andrew Schiel with the long-range sharp-shooting of Harper and Donovan.
Harper in particular could not go wrong in the first half, connecting on four of five three-point shots, and collecting 17 points in just 13 minutes of work. Overall, Amherst shot an unbelievable 10-14 from downtown in the first half.
Amherst amassed its first double-digit lead of the night when Donovan drained a three-ball several minutes before the halftime buzzer. Plymouth would trail by at least eight points from that moment on.
When the fast-paced offensive half finally came to a close, Amherst had put up a startling 63 points on the scoreboard, leaving Plymouth 16 points back. Harper, Jones, Donovan and Schiel all entered intermission with double figures in scoring. Donovan also joined teammate Adam Harper in the prestigious 1,000-point club as a result of his first half performance.
"I didn't really think about it until I got close," said Donovan. "It was always kind of in the back of my head. In addition to the success of the team I've also had success on my own, which is nice."
To its credit, Plymouth State possessed some firepower of its own, and it showed early in the second half as Plymouth threatened to mount a run.
Point guard Nick Pelotte was directly responsible for the first 12 points his team scored after intermission. Pelotte's great quickness and improvisation around the rim and dangerous three-point shot combined to give Amherst trouble.
"He was better than we thought he was," said Head Coach Dave Hixon '75. But Hixon also added that he was primarily concerned with containing Plymouth State's interior players. Despite Pelotte's game-high 33 points, Amherst maintained a double-digit lead for the entire second half.
Riding Pelotte's playmaking ability, the Panthers managed to cut the Amherst lead to 11, and almost got their crowd back into the game. On the next play, however, the Panthers' aggressive style of play caught up to them, as Pelotte fouled out after bowling over Harper in a wild charge down the lane.
Four Panther starters-including Pelotte-fouled out in the second half. Plymouth State finished the game with a whopping 33 fouls. Plymouth deflated after Pelotte left at the 7:55 mark, and Amherst immediately went on a 23-12 run to close out the game.
Harper led the Jeffs with a career high 29 points. He was joined in double figures by Donovan, Jones, Schiel and John Bedford '06, who finished with 25, 19, 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Jones added a career-high 12 rebounds to his stat totals, while point guard Russell Lee '05 finished with a career-high 11 assists. As a team, Amherst shot a superb 50.8 percent from the field.
Though the Jeffs knew that it could be their last time at LeFrak going in, they were more focused on the possible end of the season. "Knowing it could possibly be our final game" spurred the team, said Donovan. "They were feeling the same pressure though. That's the way intensity is raised in the postseason."
With the victory, Amherst set a record for wins in a season with 25.
Up next for the Jeffs are the Gothic Knights of New Jersey City University. New Jersey City is coming off of a 74-67 win over Lycoming College on Saturday. Although unranked, the Gothic Knights are a dangerous team. They use their transition game to great effect and will likely employ a full-court press against Amherst at times on Friday to keep the tempo up.
The Gothic Knights are led by senior guard Samar Battle. At 6'6," Battle is effective both on the perimeter and in the paint, and will attempt to assert a quick pace.
"They're a quick team, possibly quicker than any team we've played before," said Donovan."We're preparing to respond to that so that we won't get caught off-guard."
The Jeffs proved over the weekend that they are unafraid of getting into a shootout, but they will have to make sure to stay out of foul trouble, especially now that they are without the services of pivotal reserve John Casnocha '06, who is out indefinitely due to recurring effects from a concussion.
The other regional semifinal will be between host and ninth-ranked Franklin and Marshall and 18th-ranked Gwynedd-Mercy College. Despite the fact that the fifth-ranked Jeffs are the highest ranked team in this sectional, many consider Franklin and Marshall to be the slight favorite to emerge this weekend due to its home-court advantage.
Although Franklin and Marshall has home-court, Lancaster, Penn. is the site of one of Coach Hixon's greatest professional accomplishments. Back in 1994, in its first ever NCAA Tournament showing, Amherst traveled down to Pennsylvania and upset the then top-ranked Diplomats to advance to the Elite Eight.
Amherst's game will start at 6:00, with the second semifinal to be played after the conclusion of the first one. Friday's winners will return to the hardwood at 7:00 this Saturday to play for a trip to the Final Four in Salem, Va.
Earlier in the week, Adam Harper was named NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. After receiving Second-Team All-NESCAC honors in his junior season, Harper also made his first appearance on the All-NESCAC First-Team. Andrew Schiel was named Second-Team All-NESCAC.