One place you are certain not to hear the hype, however, is among the team. Although they have never been in position to run the table, they hardly consider this unfamiliar territory, and have their sights set no lower than a National Championship. "We know we are still a long way off from our goal of winning a National Championship. The regular season is really about getting better and putting yourself in a good position for postseason play," said senior quad-captain forward Dan Wheeler. "Once playoffs start, no matter how you did in the regular season, either you win or you go home."
That focus was in ample evidence this weekend. The Camels of Conn. came into LeFrak Gymnasium on Friday with just one win in conference play, but that had come the Saturday before against a strong Bates College team. Riding that momentum, Conn. hoped to give the Jeffs a run. Although the game was kept relatively close in the first few minutes, any hope the Camels had was extinguished when junior center Kevin Hopkins dunked savagely on consecutive trips down the court. Riding that energy the Jeffs closed out the first half on a 24-3 dash, giving them a 52-24 edge going into the break. Head Coach Dave Hixon '75 emptied his bench in the second half, but the Camels still failed to gain any ground as the Jeffs cruised to a 91-49 victory. Forward Brian Baskauskas '09 led the way for the Jeffs with 17 points on 7-9 shooting, closely followed by Hopkins who had 16 points in just 17 minutes on 8-9 from the field.
After such a complete effort against Conn., Amherst was hoping to leave Wesleyan in the dust as well on Saturday. The last home game of the regular season served as Senior Day for Dan Wheeler, Tim McLaughlin, Dan O'Shea and Mike Salerno. However, the Cardinals would spoil the party by proving to be considerably more difficult than expected. Almost nine minutes in the first half, the Jeffs trailed 12-8 and were having issues solving Wesleyan's man-to-man defense-a strategy that teams rarely attempt to employ against Amherst. Although an 8-0 run soon gave the Jeffs the lead, the Cardinals were able to hang close. Even a spectacular ally-oop from guard Andrew Olson '08 to Hopkins failed to take the fight out of Wesleyan. It wasn't until the second half that Dan Wheeler decided that he had seen enough.
With 11:40 in the game, the Jeffs led by just five points. At that point Wheeler hit his next six shots, four of which were good for three points each, each to put the Cardinals well out of range. The hot streak gave him 28 points for the game, a career high that put him at 1,000 for his illustrious career. The Jeffs rode Wheeler's play to an 81-56 victory. In addition to Wheeler's 28, Olson had nine assists and O'Shea scored 11 in just 13 minutes of play.
Wheeler's 1,000-point milestone was not the only significant individual accomplishment of the weekend. Olson was nominated for the prestigious Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford, given annually to the nation's top collegiate point guard. Olson is among 17 finalists from the across the country in all divisions of college basketball. Amherst's own Brain Daoust '01 was awarded the Bob Cousy award by the New England Basketball Coaches Association (NEBCA) before the award was made national by the Hall of Fame and The Hartford.
With their newly-anointed 1,000-point scorer and Cousy Award finalist, the Jeffs will be in action this Saturday, looking to seal the first undefeated regular season in school history. Their opponent will be the Trinity College Bantams, who defeated the Jeffs in their only meeting last season. The loss was one of only two regular season defeats for the 2005-506 squad. The teams will meet in Hartford on Trinity's home court. The Bantams are currently second in the NESCAC standings at 6-2. They are led by a pair of Martins, Russ and Pat. Russ dominates on the inside at the center position, while Pat plays a stellar point, both scoring and distributing. They also have two further offensive assets in Kino Clarke and Robert Taylor III, both of whom are capable of offensive outburts.
Even if the Jeffs should lose, they still have clinched the top seed in the NESCAC Tournament and will host as long as they survive. Furthermore, the team is in stellar position to receive a bid to the Div. III NCAA Tournament. While the winner of the NESCAC Tournament will receive an automatic (or Pool A) bid, even if the Jeffs shoud lose they would still likely receive an at-large (or Pool C) bid into the tournament.
NESCAC Notes
While Amherst is set with the top seed and an all-but-assured bid to the NCAA Tournament, everyone else in the NESCAC is far more uncertain. Right now Trinity has the inside track for the number two seed, but if they lose to Amherst and Tufts University wins out, the second seed will go to the Jumbos. Trinity, Tufts and Bates each have a chance to receive an invitation to the NCAA Tournament even if they don't get the NESCAC's Pool A bid. Tufts and Bates may even require a win over the Jeffs to sneak in.