On Friday, March 16, the squad met the Fighting Scots of Wooster College in its third trip to the national semi-finals in the last four years. Although Wooster and Amherst had never played each other before, both programs had spent most of the decade dominating Div. III basketball. Wooster came into the game with the most wins (180) and highest winning percentage (.865) of any Div. III team in this millennium. Amherst was a close second in both categories. Despite the lofty win totals, neither team had yet found a way to bring home the Walnut and Bronze.
The Jeffs came out playing with a fire in their bellies. Senior quad-captain Dan O'Shea won the opening tip, and fellow senior quad-captain Tim McLaughlin drained a three on the opening possession that sparked a 13-2 run to start the game. A little over five minutes into the contest, the Jeffs led 18-4, were 6-7 from the field and 4-4 from beyond the three-point line.
The Scots answered by brining senior forward Tim Vandervaart into the game. Vandervaart quickly scored eight points to cut the Jeffs' lead to seven, and he continued to be unstoppable for the remainder of the half, scoring 12 points on 6-6 shooting. McLaughlin however, continued to play his best basketball in the biggest games, as he has all season. The defensive stalwart pilfered three quick steals, with each leading to points on the fast break. Despite Vandervaart's exceptional play, McLaughlin's momentum allowed Amherst to roll into the break on a 15-8 run, heading into the locker room with a 39-25 lead. "We've been here before, and that contributed to our fast start," said McLaughlin. "We knew they'd make a run in the second half, though."
Wooster didn't waste any time, coming out of break with a quick six-point burst, including two more buckets from Vandervaart. Point guard Andrew Olson '08 temporarily stopped the bleeding by finding senior quad-captain Dan Wheeler for a back-door lay-up, but Wooster came right back. Another furious run by the Scots culminated with Vandervaart tying the score at 43-43 with his 20th point.
The Jeffs could have easily been discouraged after seeing their 14 point halftime lead evaporate just six and a half minutes into the second half. Once again, McLaughlin came to the rescue, draining his third trey and drawing a foul in the process. Although he missed the free throw, quad-captain Mike Salerno '07 grabbed the rebound and Olson found Wheeler cutting down the lane for an easy lay-up. The five-point possession allowed the Jeffs to regain some control, and the lead stretched to seven before Wooster again began chipping away.
With just under seven minutes to play Tom Port tied the game for the Scots with a slam. Trailing by three with two and a half minutes to play, the Jeffs answered again, as Olson found center Kevin Hopkins '08 for a thunderous dunk that drew a foul and resulted in a three-point play to tie the game. After another Hopkins basket, the Jeffs led 61-60 with a under a minute to play. With the Scots to inbound from under the basket, the Jeffs were able to knock the pass away, and tie up the loose ball with the possession arrow pointing in their direction.
Wooster elected to start fouling, and Hopkins calmly put home two huge free thows on the other end. The Jeffs played lock-down defense the rest of the way, and continued to hit foul shots to pull away for a 67-60 victory. McLaughlin finished the game with 16 points, eight boards and numerous crucial defensive plays. Olson finished with 15 points and nine assists and Wheeler rounded out the scorers in double digits with 11. "For every run they had, we always had one good play," said Olson after the game. "We were getting good looks, and doing the little things seemed to put us over the hump."
The real difference though, was the biscuits. When asked what the team did differently to prepare this year as opposed to the previous trips in Salem, Wheeler responded, "The hotel we stay at has these delicious breakfast biscuits. The other two years I stuffed my face with biscuits all morning. It was tough, but this year we resisted the biscuits and I think it made a big difference down the stretch." There you have it. Many observers felt it was the team's lack of size and interior defense that had held the Jeffs back in previous years. Turns out it was the biscuits. They were quite literally hungrier this time around.
The team rode their new biscuit-free philosophy into their first ever National Championship game against the Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan. Virginia Wesleyan won last year's National Championship. This year's Marlin squad was led by the dynamic duo of 2005-06 National Player of the Year, Brandon Adair, and super-speedy pointguard, TonTon Balenga.
Unlike the previous day, the Jeffs' opponents went on the opening run, scoring the first four points. McLaughlin and Wheeler responded quickly with matching jumpers to tie the game. Olson then hit a three to give Amherst the lead and the Jeffs were off and running. For the rest of the half, the Jeffs did an excellent job locking down both Adair and Balenga. Balenga was frustrated by the excellent perimeter defense of McLaughlin and Salerno. The Marlins had difficulty getting Adair the ball, as the Amherst three-headed center of O'Shea, Hopkins and Brandon Jones '08 did a fantastic job of fronting the Virginia Wesleyan big man. Just like the previous day, the Jeffs had built up a sizeable advantage after the first half, leading 39-28. "We have been notorious for starting slowly, so this week has been a surprise to the fans," said Olson. "Those quick starts have been a big boost of confidence." Olson led the Jeffs in the first half with eight points, while Hopkins had seven in just six minutes of play.
The Marlins looked determined to change the momentum of the game in the second half. Balenga scored a quick basket, and Adair got an easy hoop the next trip down the court. Hopkins converted a three-point play to push the lead to 12, but Balenga immediately responded with a three-pointer. Unfazed by the Marlins' new found intensity, the Jeffs continued to play lock-down defense and gradually extended their lead. At the 10-minute mark Brian Baskauskas '09 converted a three-point play to give the Jeffs a 22 point lead, 62-40.
The Marlins still had one last run in them though. Terrell Dixon got things started by hitting a three-pointer. Dixon and Balenga put the Virginia Wesleyan squad on their backs for the next six minutes and dragged the Marlins back into the game. With three and a half minutes to play, Dixon went to the line and hit both free throws to cut the Amherst lead to 10, the lowest it had been since just past the 15 minute mark. Once again, the Jeffs showed they had the resilience to repel a strong run. On the next possession, Olson found Baskauskas for an open jumper. After Balenga missed an open three, Jones drew a foul for Amherst and sank both shots. Amherst nursed its lead to the final buzzer, winning 80-67 and taking home the 2007 National Championship.
Five players scored in double figures for the Jeffs, fittingly demonstrating the balanced mentality that had served the team so well all season. Olson led all scorers with 15 points and earned the title of Most Outstanding Player for the weekend. McLaughlin finished with 12 and was also named to the All-Championship Series team. Wheeler, Hopkins and Baskauskas all finished in double figures as well. Adair had 17 and Balenga had 19 for Virginia Wesleyan, but no other Marlin had more than eight points.
"It's wonderful to be National Champs," said Amherst Head Coach Dave Hixon '75. "It's a big deal to be here twice. We have played in the consolation game. I have seen film clips and they don't say Amherst has been there two years … they just say we haven't won a game. Now, we have won two games. It is a big deal to get that banner."
"All I can say is that Amherst played great," explained Virginia Wesleyan Head Coach Dave Macedo. "They deserved it." The win was coach Hixon's 550th victory as Amherst's head coach. The team finishes the season at 30-2, setting a school record for wins in a season, besting last year's mark of 28. The graduating class of McLaughlin, O'Shea, Salerno and Wheeler won a record 112 games in their outstanding careers that included three trips to the Final Four. The National Championship is the school's third team national title, with the men's basketball team joining women's lacrosse and women's tennis as the only Amherst teams to have won the ultimate prize.
"For this program, and for Coach Hixon, it shows all his hard work over so many years has paid off. All the years these guys have spent working towards this, it's great to bring it home for them," said Olson. "It's also not just an award for this team, but it's also to all the guys before us who helped build this tradition for us to continue. It's going to be amazing to bring this title back to our fans, because they have been behind us the whole way. And finally, it feels good to put up a National Championship banner in our gym, to match the one we've always had to see in Williams' gym."
Although the Walnut and Bronze and the nets from the Civic Center in Salem will be the most important additions to the Amherst trophy case, there will be others. Hixon was named National Coach of the Year by D3hoops.com, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Molten Div. III News. Olson was named a first-team All-American by both D3hoops.com and the NABC, and was named the NABC Co-National Player of the Year, sharing the award with Guilford College's Ben Strong. Olson had already secured sectional MVP, NESCAC Player of the Year and first-team All-New England regional honors.
Never satisfied, the team is already looking forward to another terrific season next winter. "We are obviously very optimistic about who we have returning, but it will be tough to replace what we are losing as well," said Olson. "We were the biggest name on every opponents schedule this year, and that is only going to magnify next season. We are really going to have a target on our backs from the start."
Despite the loss of four terrific seniors, the remainig Jeffs will look to get back to Salem next year and add bring home another championship. They just need to remember to steer clear of those breakfast biscuits.