On Friday, the Jeffs faced the Bowdoin Polar Bears. Entering the game with a perfect 3-0 NESCAC record, Amherst won 73-52 and improved their record to 16-2 (4-0 NESCAC). In the win, senior co-captain Brian Baskauskas scored a game-high 19 points while sophomore Conor Meehan and first-year Jeff Holmes each scored 10. Holmes also got eight rebounds.
The next day, the Jeffs took on the Colby Mules where they suffered their first NESCAC loss. Though down 32-17 with 5:54 remaining in the first half, Amherst eventually led 49-47 with less than 10 minutes to play. Colby soon regained the lead, however, and didn’t relinquish it again. Meehan scored a career-high 24 points while Baskauskas added 15 points and nine rebounds. First-year David Waller had 12 points and senior co-captain Mike Holsey ’09 netted 10.
Baskauskas said the weekend, although bittersweet, will give the team something to build on in the coming weeks. “This weekend was good for us because there are a lot of things we can and will learn from it. We need to execute better down the stretch of games and we also need to shoot better from the foul line.”
After returning to campus, the Jeffs had two days to recover before they took another long road trip to Providence, R.I., where they faced Rhode Island College (RIC). Though the Anchormen are not conference rivals, they provided a chance for the Amherst team to measure their ability without the pressure of NESCAC standings on the line.
“Rhode Island is a very good team with a lot of talented and athletic kids. It will be a great test for us to see where we are at with out defense and our ability to take care of the ball,” said Baskauskas before the game.
Despite being ahead 46-28 early in the second half, Amherst’s shooting percentage decreased dramatically in the second half as the Jeffs relinquished the lead with 8:43 left on the clock. The Anchormen scored 14 unanswered points to go ahead for the first time in the game. Baskauskas and fellow senior Marcus Bradley each scored 13 points as Holsey netted 12 to lead the Jeffs in their loss.
The Colby and RIC games mark the Jeffs’ first back-to-back losses since the 2005-06 season while the week’s results drop the team to 20th in the d3hoops.com national rankings.
Amherst takes on Bates College on Friday where the team will look to notch a win against the lower-ranked Bobcats.