Amherst, ranked third in the nation according to D3hoops.com, kicked their season off against the Yellow Jackets of New York City Tech. on Nov. 17. From the beginning of the game it was clear that Amherst would overpower NYCCT, whose tallest player stood a meager 6'4". Despite the Yellow Jackets' efforts to use a full-court press to force the Jeffs into turnovers, junior guard Andrew Olson was easily able to navigate through the pressure, leading to a barrage of scoring on fast break points. After the starters had put up a double-digit lead, a barrage of subs began entering the game. Eventually every player on the Jeff roster saw at least some time, providing an excellent opportunity for the younger players on the squad to gain some much-needed experience.
Sophomore guard Brian Baskauskas, who came to Amherst last year after being heavily recruited but spent most of the season on the bench behind an exceedingly deep roster, was able to see significant time, scoring six points in 13 minutes of action. First-year point guard D.J. Carcieri was also impressive, scoring eight points in 14 minutes of play to go along with five assists. His encouraging play may provide an answer to the question of who will be the primary backup for Olson after the departure of Ray Corrigan '06. Also playing well was first-year Steven Wheeler, the brother of senior quad-captain Dan Wheeler. The younger Wheeler scored eight points in only seven minutes of action. The combined team effort led to a 101-66 win, with guard Adolphe Coulibaly '08 leading the way with 16 points.
The next night in the championship game against the Terriers of Thomas College, the Jeffs were able to repeat their dominance, winning 98-64. Again the youngsters played well, especially Steven Wheeler, who scored six points in six minutes, meaning that he scored more points than he played minutes in his first weekend. Carcieri once again performed admirably in running the offense and Baskauskas added seven points in 14 minutes.
The squad hopes to use the momentum from the Ken Wright '52 Invitational to propel them through the rest of their non-conference schedule. This weekend Amherst will face two tough squads in Western New England College and Springfield College. Both gave NESCAC rival Tufts University a run for their money last weekend, and should provide a far greater challenge than the Jeffs saw at the Ken Wright. The rest of the non-conference schedule is also daunting, including a home game against a talented Brandeis University squad, a trip to Texas to play perennial national contender Trinity University (TX) on New Year's Eve, and of course the annual non-conference game against Williams College, which will take place in Williamstown, Mass. on Jan. 6. Should the Jeffs successfully navigate those hurdles with no more than one loss, they should be in strong position to compete for not only the NESCAC title, but also for the national championship.
Be sure to make it down to LeFrak Gymnasium or listen in on WAMH for this weekend's games against WNEC and Springfield on Friday and Saturday respectively.
NESCAC Notes
Bates College is off to the best start in the NESCAC, going 4-0, including a quality win over WNEC. They are led by seniors Zak Ray and Rob Stockwell but have also seen quality play out of Brian Wholey and first-year Chris Wilson. Off to a surprisingly poor start are the Tufts University Jumbos, who were ranked 12th in the nation in the preseason polls, but have lost twice in their first four games, to Rhode Island College and Brandeis.