Coming into the contest, the Jeffs were heavily favored, having defeated the Camels by 31 points less than a month earlier. Perhaps this fact went to the team's head a bit, because for the first eight minutes Conn. looked like they had no intention of going away without a fight. Camels Charles Stone-who shared 2005 co-NESCAC Rookie of the Year honors with Amherst's Andrew Olson '08- and Jeff Young both came out on fire on the offensive end.
Stone was unstoppable in the post early in the half, scoring seven points in eight minutes on just four shots. Meanwhile, Young terrorized the Jeffs with his quickness off the dribble and accurate jumper, scoring 12 points on 5-6 shooting in the first half.
Two factors led to the Camels' ultimate collapse. First, Stone drew his third foul relatively early in the half, causing him to go to the bench. His replacement, Kosovo-native Sokol Zejnullahu, was only slightly less efficient than Stone, scoring six points in 12 minutes, but also ran into foul trouble, finishing the half with three whistles. Meanwhile, with the Camel interior presence saddled with fouls, Amherst guards Tim McLaughlin '07 and Adolphe Coulibaly '08 put a stranglehold on Young and the rest of the Camel attack. Coulibaly neutralized the speed of Young on the defensive end while McLaughlin prowled the passing lanes, managing to steal five balls in the first half alone.
The Camels, who had kept the game close and even led by a couple at several junctures, rapidly began to lose their grip on the game as McLaughlin's steals led to points on the fast break and the Jeff offense began to find its rhythm. At the end of the first half Olson and fellow sophomore Kevin Hopkins created two of the most amazing highlight-reel plays of the season on consecutive trips down the court.
First, when a Conn. player dove for a pass heading Olson's way, the Jeff snatched the ball and quickly spun, causing the defender to fall hard to the floor. The Amherst floor general then went into the lane and completed a behind-the-back, no-look pass to Hopkins in the midst of three other Camels for an easy lay-up. On the next possession the two connected on a perfectly executed ally-oop lay-up. The momentum allowed the Jeffs to build a 44-28 lead at intermission, one that would never be seriously challanged.
The second half brought more of the same, with Stone and Zejnullahu both picking up their fourth fouls quickly. Stone was limited to just nine points in the competition-six below his average-largely because he played only 16 minutes. Without their interior players Conn. was powerless to stop the lead from increasing and it ballooned rapidly to 30 before Head Coach David Hixon '75 began inserting subs en masse.
By the time the dust had settled, Amherst had comfortably advanced to the semifinals of the NESCAC Tournament. Three Jeffs finished in double figures with senior co-captain John Bedford leading the way with 17 and Coulibaly and McLaughlin each pitching in 10. Co-captain John Casnocha '06 and forward Dan Wheeler '07 both had nine points. The Jeffs out-rebounded the Camels 47-30 and out-shot them 43-36 percent.
The win sets up a semifinal contest with fourth-seed Bates College on Saturday in LeFrak Gymnasium. The Jeffs and the Bobcats met just two weeks ago, with Amherst playing some of its best basketball of the season to defeat Bates-which was receiving votes for the national top 25 by a score of 88-52. Despite this lop-sided victory, Amherst would be unwise to look past Bates. Point guard Zak Ray and forward Rob Stockwell are among the consensus top players in the conference and frankly looked somewhat out-of-sync in the last match-up.
Casnocha expressed confidence that the team would be focused for the game. "We have a lot of playoff experience as a group, so I am not concerned that we will be complacent," he said. "A loss now would be extremely disappointing and with our sights set on Salem I expect us to be very prepared and focused the rest of the way."
The winner of that semifinal will play the winner of the Tufts University-Trinity College game, which will be held immediately after the conclusion of the Amherst game on Saturday afternoon. Trinity is the only NESCAC team that has beaten Amherst, winning 88-85 in overtime at LeFrak during Interterm. The conference final will be held on Sunday at noon.
NESCAC Notes
Amherst is currently ranked fifth in the country and tops in New England, indicating that the Jeffs will almost certainly receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament even in the event of a loss to Bates. The other three remaining teams have a more uncertain future. The winner of the NESCAC Tournament gets an automatic bid, so whoever takes home the conference crown on Sunday will be assured a spot in the dance. While it is conceivable that all four teams could get in, Bates and Trinity likely need to get to the final in order to be considered. Tufts may receive an at-large bid even with a loss in the semifinal round, but they would be much more likely to advance if they made it to the final. Obviously, each of the four teams has a large amount at stake this weekend.