However, while there might not be the same sense of euphoria around the team that is typically associated with reaching the late stages of the NCAA Tournament, Amherst feels its previous experience will give them an edge. "This coming weekend, LeFrak [Gymnasium] will be the stage of furious battles between teams with the same aspirations," said guard Adolphe Coulibaly '08. "I do believe that our experience of reaching six consecutive Sweet Sixteen stages will be a little advantage."
The Widener Pride came into LeFrak last Saturday looking like they were ready to stage one of those furious battles. The Pride had punched their ticket into the tournament with an exciting upset of Juniata College in the finals of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament. A week later, they upended King's College-a squad that had trounced them by 13 points earlier in the season-in the first round. Coming into Saturday's game, Widener was on a roll and showed no signs of letting up in the early going against the Jeffs.
After the Jeffs opened the game with a 5-0 lead following a three-pointer from senior quad-captain Tim McLaughlin, the Pride climbed right back to 5-4 with consecutive buckets. Widener looked determined to prove they could play with Amherst, as the next three minutes featured several lead changes, concluding when Widener guard Essien Ford tied the game at 15 with a pull-up jumper. Even after the Jeffs went on a 13-0 run to open up the game, the Pride proved that they could hang tough, bringing the themselves back to within three points after Ford scored five points in a single possession; after being fouled while shooting a three, Ford made the first two foul shots before missing the third. The Pride, however, grabbed the offensive rebound, and Ford drained a three to make the game competitive again.
Despite their hot shooting, however, Widener had no answer for Amherst on the defensive end. The Jeffs closed out the half on an 8-0 run to go into the locker room up 43-32. With only one player in their rotation over 6'4", the Pride had no answer for 6'10" junior center Kevin Hopkins, who scored at will throughout the game. Hopkins scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half, including two thunderous two-handed jams that energized the Amherst student section. Behind Hopkins, the Jeffs led by as many as 25 before emptying the bench. Malcolm Thomas did what he could for the Pride, scoring 12 points in the second half, to finish with 20 overall. Ford also dropped in 20 for Widener, but the senior duo could not do it alone.
Four Jeffs finished with double digits in the scoring column. McLaughlin tallied with 10, while senior quad-captain forward Dan Wheeler had 18 and forward Brian Baskauskas '09 had 14. The star of the show, however, was Hopkins, whose 24 points set a new career-high. "Kevin's performance Saturday attested to his ability to be one of the best centers in our conference," said Coulibaly. "As he gains confidence, he realizes that he can be unstoppable when he stays offensively aggressive. We are going to need some more of him this weekend."
In addition to Hopkins' eye-opening performance, guard Andrew Olson '08 quietly put together his typical stellar line, totaling eight points and 12 assists. On this particular occasion, however, the announcer made sure Olson was noticed, announcing in the middle of the game that Olson had surpassed the all-time Amherst career assist record with his 499th career assist. The previous record was held by Ryan Faulkner, who graduated in 2003.
Olson has been getting a lot of attention lately, and deservedly so. He was recently named NESCAC Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of former teammate Andrew Schiel '05, who received the honor in 2005. Olson has also been nominated for the prestigious Bob Cousy Award, given to the best overall point guard in the nation, regardless of division. Olson is one of only two Div. III players to be nominated for the award.
Olson is not the only Amherst player who has received accolades recently. Both he and Wheeler were also named First-Team All-NESCAC this past week. Wheeler is also one of 10 finalists for the Josten's Award, given to the best overall Div. III basketball player in the country.
But despite all that they have accomplished, the Jeffs are focused on what lies ahead. "I think we have a legitimate chance to win the National Championship," said Coulibaly. "I knew from the beginning of the season that we had a great team. But the mission is not yet accomplished, and I think we all have our eyes on the ultimate prize."
Next in their way are the Ducks of the Stevens Institute of Technology. Stevens-a dark horse to make the tournament at all-beat heavily favored teams in Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Ramapo College in the first and second rounds, respectively. They are led by Virgil Gray II and Waleed Farid, both of whom average just under 20 points per contest. The only common opponent of Amherst and Stevens is Tufts University. Amherst squeaked by the Jumbos in overtime, while Stevens won in a laugher, 92-71.
Nevertheless, the Jeffs feel confident that they will have enough defense to handle the Duck attack, as they are currently averaging over 80 points per game. "When you get to this point in the season, all the teams that you are playing have talented players. Guys are going to make shots," said Hopkins. "I think that our defense improved from last weekend to this weekend and hopefully we can continue to work on it and improve it."
Amherst will host the NCAA Sectionals for the third consecutive year, meaning that they will have home-court advantage against Stevens and, should they win, against the winner of the contest featuring Rhode Island College and Keene State College. The Jeffs defeated the Anchormen of RIC earlier in the year, 62-48, on the road. They have not played Keene State.
The Stevens game will be held at LeFrak at 8:00 on Friday and, should the Jeffs win, they will play the following day at 7:00 for a chance to go to their second consecutive Final Four in Salem, Va.
NESCAC Notes
Joining Wheeler and Olson on the All-NESCAC first team are Zak Ray and Rob Stockwell of Bates College and Nick Farrell of Colby College. The second team consists of Jake Weitzen of Tufts, Chris Shalvoy of Williams College, and Pat Martin, Russ Martin and Kino Clarke, all from Trinity College. Amherst is now the last remaining NESCAC team playing, as both Trinity and Williams were bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.