When Amherst's schedule was released before the start of this season, it was clear that January would be a defining month for the Lord Jeffs, as Head Coach Dave Hixon '75 and company were slated to butt heads with nationally-ranked teams such as The College of New Jersey, Trinity College and, of course, archrival Williams College-to make matters worse, all three of these games were on the road-and kick off a grueling NESCAC season. While Amherst still must complete a two-game road trip to Maine this weekend to close out the month, it is fair to say that Hixon's team passed this January test with flying colors. After starting the semester off with a 22-point loss to The College of New Jersey, the Jeffs have reeled off seven consecutive victories including a huge win over Williams at Chandler Gymnasium.
To be sure, the month of March is ultimately what counts in college basketball, but the precocious Jeffs have already garnered one important accolade for the College this season. With last Friday's 68-58 win over visiting Wesleyan University-the Jeffs' second win over the Cardinals this year-Amherst secured its first outright Little III crown since the 2000-01 season. Amherst and Williams have had to share Little III honors the past three years.
With the advent of the NESCAC Championship in 2001, the Little III Championship probably means less to the fans than it did previously, but it is still an achievement in which Hixon and his players take great pride. "I think it is [a significant accomplishment], even if our fans do not," said Hixon.
Although Amherst received an assist in achieving the Little III crown courtesy of Wesleyan's upset of Williams earlier this past week-Amherst's Feb. 4 clash against Williams in LeFrak will determine whether Wesleyan's assistance was required-this title is particularly sweet for Amherst because the Jeffs went through Chandler Gymnasium to get it.
In recent years, Williams has simply been unbeatable at home. The Ephs' Div. III record of 64 consecutive home victories was snapped by Wheaton College just four days before the Jeffs made the trip out to Williamstown. Many of the most important and satisfying of those 64 wins came at the expense of the Lord Jeffs. Since 2001, Amherst had dropped five consecutive games at Chandler including an Elite Eight game in 2003 and a NESCAC Championship game last season.
On Jan. 8, the Jeffs resoundingly put their Chandler troubles behind them with a dominating 88-78 win over their archrivals. Amherst, which never trailed in the game, built up a 14-point lead at halftime and maintained a double-digit lead through much of the final frame. However, the prideful Ephs would not go quietly. Led by Tucker Kain-who Jeff fans may remember for his last-second three-pointer in Amherst's last regular-season loss to Williams a year ago-Williams went on a 10-2 run late in the game to cut the Amherst lead to 79-74 with just under a minute to play. But this time, Amherst refused to back down. The Jeffs made nine of 10 free throws in the final minute of play to assure themselves of victory. Senior co-captain Andrew Schiel led the Jeffs with 20 points, and fellow frontcourt stalwart John Casnocha '06 chipped in 19.
After confidently dispatching Wesleyan by 22 points in a non-conference game, Amherst opened up its NESCAC slate with a trip to Hartford to take on the Trinity College Bantams. With four starters returning from last year's tournament team, including preseason All-American Tyler Rhoten, Trinity was considered by many at the beginning of the year to be a favorite to capture the NESCAC title. While three disappointing non-conference losses caused Trinity to drop in the polls, Amherst entered this game fully cognizant of the talent the Bantams possessed.
As was expected, the game went back and forth throughout. Trinity took a one-point lead heading into the half, and the score remained close during the final 20 minutes of play. With about four minutes to go, Amherst went on an 8-0 run to give themselves a six-point cushion. The Bantams cut that margin to three in the final minute, however, and had a couple of chances to knot the score but were unable to do so.
Once again, Schiel came up big for Amherst. Amherst's star player tallied 27 points on 9-13 shooting from the floor. Following a solid midweek victory over Elms College, the Jeffs returned to the NESCAC grind this past weekend.
On Friday, Amherst struggled mightily on the offensive end of the court but was still able to manage a 10-point victory over Wesleyan. The Jeffs' difficulties looked as if they would carry over into the next day's game against the lowly Camels of Connecticut College, as Amherst staked their guests to an 11-2 lead to start the game. Amherst quickly responded with a 13-2 run of its own to reclaim the lead. The Jeffs would not fall behind again.
Forward Dan O'Shea '07 came off the bench midway through the first half and brought Amherst's game to another level. At one point, O'Shea scored 10 consecutive points for the Jeffs. Thanks largely to O'Shea's workmanlike efforts, Amherst took a 39-25 lead into the second half and went on to cruise to an 84-50 win. O'Shea paced the Jeffs in the scoring column with a career-best 16 points.
O'Shea's performance against Conn. is representative of the quality minutes Coach Hixon has received from his reserves in recent games. O'Shea, Dan Wheeler '07, Tim McLaughlin '07 and Keith Zalaski '06 have been key contributors to Amherst's success thus far this season. "The great thing about our team is the consistency of our backups," explained Hixon. "Our starters have been inconsistent, although, individually, they have all played very well at times."
O'Shea, who has gotten much stronger since his freshman campaign, has developed nicely into a real offensive presence in the paint. Wheeler and McLaughlin can also contribute to the scoring column, but these two really make their mark with their aggressiveness on the offensive glass. Zalaski, meanwhile, has filled in admirably at the backup point guard position since Andrew Olson '08 was elevated to the starting lineup in December after senior co-captain Ray Corrigan was sidelined with a foot injury.
Indeed, Andrew Olson, who started the year on the bench, has arguably been Amherst's most valuable player over the past month. Not only has Olson done a fine job handling the ball and running the offense for Coach Hixon, but he also brings an added scoring threat. Olson posted a career-high 16 points against Williams, and he added another 13 versus the Bantams.
This weekend, Amherst heads up to Maine to take on Bowdoin and Colby Colleges. While on paper neither team ought to challenge the fifth-ranked Jeffs, Amherst must be careful not to lose its concentration against two NESCAC rivals on this relatively relaxing road trip.
The Jeffs return to home action next Tuesday as they host a very talented team from Brandeis University in non-conference play.