On Friday the Jeffs traveled to Williamstown, Mass., to play the Ephs in the second of two regular season meetings between the archrivals. Amherst won the first contest 66-56, at home in a game that was closer than the score might suggest. This time, the Jeffs were looking for their fourth consecutive victory over the Ephs and had the opportunity to clinch their second-straight outright Little Three Championship.
Having won so narrowly at home, it would stand to logic that the Jeffs would have a particularly daunting task winning in Chandler Gymnasium, where the Ephs won a Div. III record 63 consecutive games until the streak was snapped early last season. Chandler is famous for being one of the loudest and most intimidating environments to play in throughout all of Div. III hoops.
"There is not much you can do to prepare for that type of crowd or the intensity, but being able to control your own emotions is what I feel is most important," said senior co-captain John Bedford. "It is real easy to [get] jacked up for the Williams game, but sometimes when you are too excited you get ahead of yourself and make little mistakes you normally wouldn't."
Coming out of the gates, both teams appeared to be a bit hesitant, and neither side seemed to be able to get into much of an offensive rhythm. The first 18 points of the game came off three-pointers, as both squads seemed content to pass the ball around the perimeter until one player found enough space to shoot. With the game tied at nine, point guard Andrew Olson '08 hit the first two-point field goal of the game seven minutes into the first half.
Olson's jumper seemed to light a fire under the Jeffs, as they rolled off 15 consecutive points while playing stifling defense at the other end to build up a double-digit advantage that they would never relinquish. For the rest of the game Amherst put on a clinic on both ends of the floor. The Jeffs were passing so brilliantly that they committed just five turnovers while shooting 46.7 percent from the floor while out-rebounding Williams and holding them to just 33.3 percent on field goals.
"We knew who their shooters were, and our guards did a great job in denying them any open looks," said junior center Dan O'Shea. "Containing [Andrew] Newton was also extremely important. He's one of the best scoring big guys in the NESCAC, so not letting him get into a scoring rhythm early paid dividends for us in the end." The Jeffs' excellent defense and efficient offense led to a 83-55 drubbing that only the most optimistic of Amherst fans could have predicted.
Bedford and Olson were the game's statistical leaders, scoring 20 and 13, respectively, but the fan favorite was undoubtedly reserve point-guard Mike Salerno '06, who found his way into the game thanks to raucous cheers of "Mike SA-LER-NO" and "RUDY" from the Amherst cheering section. The dedicated fans who made the long drive to Williamstown made their presence felt all evening, even mockingly rooting for the dejected Ephs after the game was well in hand.
The next evening, the Jeffs continued their trek northward, this time stopping in Middlebury, Vt. to challenge the Panthers, one of the weaker teams in this NESCAC this year. Early on, it looked like Amherst might fall victim to a huge letdown after the big win against Williams, as Middlebury gained the lead and managed to hold on to it for most of the first five minutes of play. The excellent defense from the night before was nowhere to be found, as Middlebury shot over 50 percent from the field. The Jeffs' saving grace was their domination on the boards, out-rebounding the Panthers 40-29. In the end, the performance was just enough to hold on for an 86-78 win. Bedford and forward Dan Wheeler '07 had 19 and 17 points, respectively, while O'Shea also had an outstanding performance with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Last night the Jeffs reached the 20-win plateau for the fifth consecutive season by crushing non-conference opponent Lasell College 99-76. Amazingly, the team managed to score 99 points with only two players in double-figures, Wheeler and Bedford, who had 24 and 15, respectively.
The two conference victories will allow the Jeffs to head into the final weekend of NESCAC play in a three-way tie with Bates and Trinity Colleges for first place in the conference with a 6-1 record. Williams and Tufts University are also not far behind at 5-2. The final weekend promises to be a madhouse, as both Amherst and Trinity will host consecutive games against Bates and Tufts, meaning that any of those four teams and possibly even Williams could end up anywhere from the top seed (and home court advantage in the NESCAC Final Four) to the fifth seed in the conference tournament.
Even if Amherst sweeps, they will need a loss from Trinity to take the top slot, as Trinity beat Amherst in an overtime heartbreaker earlier this season. The situation is certainly more hectic than last season, when the Jeffs knew going into the final weekend that two wins would equal home court advantage, but the players insist that they will be able to maintain their focus. "We know that we have to win both games in order to put ourselves in the best possible position," said O'Shea. "If we sweep and Trinity loses a game, that would be great, but we can't worry about other teams when we have a game to play."
NESCAC Notes
There is currently a large degree of separation between the top five teams in the conference and the bottom five. After the top five that were previously mentioned, Bowdoin College is the next highest with a record of just 3-4. With each team having only two conference games remaining it currently looks as though Middlebury College (1-6) and Wesleyan University (0-8) will be the two teams that fail to make the postseason tournament.