Early Friday evening it appeared as though the Jeffs would have no trouble dispatching the Pride, as Amherst jumped out to a 20-point advantage in the first half on the strength of excellent ball movement and stiff defense. Olson racked up 10 of his tournament-record 12 assists in the first half as the Jeffs whipped the ball around the perimeter to find open shots. As a result, the Jeffs shot 59.4 percent from the field in the first half including six of 12 from behind the arc. On the other side of the ball, Amherst was able to limit the damage done by Derek Yvon, one of the top players in the Northeast region, and shut down the rest of the squad. They held the Pride to 37.9 percent shooting and forced five turnovers. Springfield mounted a minor comeback led by senior forward Joel Aponte, who had been injured most of the season, but the Jeffs were up 44-28 at the half.
Springfield was able to carry some momentum into the second half, going on a 7-0 run to start the period. Though senior co-captain guard John Bedford managed to stem the bleeding with a three-point play the old-fashioned way, the Pride roared again, scoring nine more unanswered points and eventually cutting the lead to three at 47-44. Unlike in the first half, Springfield pushed the ball up the court at a frenetic pace, led by speedy point guard Anthony Pizzo. The new faster-paced style of play allowed the Pride to score easily in transition and find shots that weren't available in the opening period. Meanwhile, the Jeffs looked a bit flustered, as the fouls racked up and the offense stalled. With its lead shrinking, it appeared as though Amherst was in the midst of a substantial collapse, but largely due to the play of Olson, the Jeffs rallied back.
Olson started the push with a three-pointer and was quickly followed by forward Dan Wheeler '07 who hit another trey. Despite the renewed vigor from Amherst, the Pride still wouldn't go down easily, pulling within two with 31 seconds to play before co-captain forward John Casnocha more or less iced the game with two clutch foul shots. Two more free throws gave Amherst an 80-74 win and moved their record to 3-0. Olson finished the game with the 12 assists along with a career-high 18 points to lead all scorers and also grabbed five rebounds in the titanic struggle. Bedford joined him in double digits with 10 points as did Wheeler with 11. For Wheeler it was the third consecutive game in double figures, and a great way to carry over the momentum from his tournament-MVP performance at the Ken Wright '52 Invitational. Wheeler also led the team in rebounds with six. Casnocha and forward Matt Goldsmith '08 both chipped in nine points. The Pride were led, as expected, by Yvon, who tallied 18 points, but on only 7-17 shooting, 1-6 from three-point land, a tribute to the defense of Casnocha and Bedford.
The next game against Westfield State proved to be a bit less harrying for Amherst, as the Jeffs set a tournament record with for points scored in a game with 102. The game was essentially the exact inverse of the previous night's contest, with the Owls playing close early on, only to fall away as the game progressed.
Westfield State managed to take a very early lead and stay within 10 points throughout the first half, trailing just 44-35 at the break. This was due to outstanding play from guard Tony Collier who scored 11 points in the first half, tying Wheeler for the game high through the first frame. The Owls were finding all the holes in the Amherst defense, shooting 53.8 percent from the field and knocking down half of their three-pointers. Numbers like that will typically lead to a victory, but the Owls were unable to play any defense of their own, especially from behind the arc where they were bombarded by the Jeffs, who shot a ridiculous 15 three-pointers in the half and made nine of them.
The offensive barrage continued all night for Amherst, as five players reached double figures. Olson topped them for the second-consecutive evening with 17 points, while Wheeler, Bedford, center Kevin Hopkins '08 and Casnocha had 16, 13, 13 and 10 points, respectively. It was the first contest of the year in which the Jeffs have made it past the century mark, a feat that was achieved only twice all of last year. Wheeler paced the Jeffs on the boards with seven.
In addition to the continued offensive beat down, Amherst also managed to lock down on the defensive end, lowering the Owls' shooting percentage from both the field and from behind the arc. Collier finished with 18 points and Mike Jurkowski chipped in 11 points in the losing effort, as Amherst improved to 4-0 with the 102-77 victory. Olson garnered tournament MVP honors.
In the late game on Tuesday the team improved to 5-0 in a game at home against WNEC. Bedford scored 15 points as the Jeffs beat the Golden Bears 78-57 in LeFrak Gymnasium.
The weeks' games have allowed the team to figure itself out before the all-important NESCAC schedule begins. One of the most impressive feats early on is that the Jeffs, who struggled mightily on the boards last year, have out-rebounded their opponents in each of their first four contests. Much of this could be attributed to starting a larger lineup than last season, with Bedford moving from small forward to shooting guard and Casnocha shifting from power forward to small forward.
"I think the switch to a bigger lineup is going to cause a lot of matchup problems for opposing teams," said Wheeler. "Cas plays great defense, and so he will have much less trouble guarding a smaller wing than they will have guarding him. The same goes for Bedford. He's so athletic that he'll be able to stay with the guards he faces, but not many of them will be able to handle his strength down low."
The Jeffs will play two home games in LeFrak Gymnasium this week, first against Worcester State College on Saturday at 2 p.m. and then meeting Emmanuel College at 7 p.m. on Monday.
NESCAC Notes
Amherst and Middlebury College are the only two undefeated teams in the NESCAC, both standing at 5-0. The latter has been quite a surprise, considering most expected them to finish near the middle or bottom of the conference standings. However, they have not played the most challenging non-conference schedule. Tufts University and Williams College have also been impressive, both jumping to 5-1 starts. Williams' lone loss was to formidable Worcester Polytechnic Institute, while Tufts' only defeat came at the hands of perennial national powerhouse Wittenburg College.