On Saturday, the Jeffs were matched up against the Bloodhounds of John Jay, who had upset Moravian College to make it to the second round for the first time in program history. Although the feisty Bloodhounds put up a valiant effort, they were simply no match for the overpowering Amherst squad.
For the first 10 minutes of the game, John Jay kept the game close. Although Amherst jumped out to an early lead on an easy lay-up from senior Kevin Hopkins and a three-point play from junior Brian Baskauskas, three consecutive Jeff turnovers allowed the Bloodhounds to go on a 5-0 run and take the lead, albeit briefly. Senior swingman Fletcher Walters then got into the act for Amherst, scoring five consecutive points and taking back the lead. A John Jay three-pointer at the 14-minute mark brought the teams even at 10 apiece.
At this point, however, the Jeffs started to take over the game, on the strength of Walters’ hot hand and solid play off the bench. In the first 10 minutes of the game alone, Walters scored 13 points. Matt Goldsmith ’08, Mike Holsey ’09 and Steven Wheeler ’10 provided a spark off the bench during this period, and by the 7:42 mark, Amherst had opened up a 13-point lead.
By the time their starters returned to the floor, the Lord Jeffs had stretched the lead to nearly 20 points. Feeding off the spark from the second-stringers, Amherst’s starters extended the lead, electrifying the crowd in the process: three of the half’s final four plays resulted in dunks from Hopkins and Brandon Jones ’08 off of assists from captain Andrew Olson ’08. Having scored 19 of the last 21 first-half points, Amherst went into halftime with a 59-32 advantage. Walters led all scorers with 13 points going into intermission, and Olson finished the half with a double-double of 10 points and 10 assists.
The Lord Jeffs did not skip a beat coming out of halftime, starting the second period off with a 9-2 run that culminated in a trademark Olson-to-Hopkins half-court backwards alley-oop. The Bloodhounds managed to pace the Jeffs for the first 10 minutes of the second half, scoring 20 points to Amherst’s 21 in that time, but they never could significantly narrow the gap. Back-to-back Bloodhound threes cut the margin to 20 at the seven-minute mark, but the Jeffs quickly countered with a 7-3 spurt during which Wheeler brought the crowd to its feet once again with a baseline jam. Walters credited the home crowd for its involvement while expressing sadness that the contest marked the senior class’s final home game ever. “For the seniors, it is unfortunate that we do not get to play in LeFrak ever again,” he said. “But last Saturday was all we could ask for as far as finishing our careers at home.”
With time, height and talent working against them, the Bloodhounds did not again threaten, and they eventually dribbled the game out for a 96-74 Amherst victory. Four Amherst players finished in double digits; Olson and Jones registered double-doubles: 12 points and 12 assists for Olson and 15 points and 10 boards for Jones. In addition to grabbing eight boards, Walters led all scorers with 24 points.
The victory over John Jay vaulted the Amherst squad into the Sweet Sixteen for the seventh season in a row, where the Jeffs will take on Richard Stockton College in the sectional semifinals. If they defeat Richard Stockton on Friday, the Jeffs may get a chance at redemption with an Elite Eight rematch against Brandeis University, which beat Amherst earlier this season. However, the tantalizing prospect of such a redemptive rematch is the furthest thing from the minds of the Jeff players right now, as they remain focused on Richard Stockton, the immediate obstacle in their path to the National Championship.
“Richard Stockton has a great program, and they have had a really good season this year,” said Baskauskas. “Honestly, I am not looking ahead to the Elite Eight at all. Right now, we are one of [16] teams still playing in the whole country, so there really is no room for overlooking any opponent. After Friday’s game, we will think about what lies ahead. Every game from here on out is going to be a battle, and this time of year, anything can happen.”