At Bates on Friday, the team was bolstered by senior co-captain Brian Baskauskas’ 28 points (which also moved the forward to 17th place on the Jeffs’ all-time scoring list with 1104 points).
“Brian really carried us offensively against Bates, hitting big shots when we needed them,” said senior Marcus Bradley. He also credited the defense for the team’s success. “Over the weekend we really stepped up our effort on the defensive end in both games.”
Though the lead changed frequently in the first half and the Jeffs led 40-34 at halftime, the Bobcats closed the gap, eventually tying the game at 59 apiece with less than five minutes remaining. Bates never took the lead in the second half, however, and Amherst emerged with a 71-66 victory.
In addition to Baskauskas, two first-years were key contributors to the win. Jeff Holmes ’12 added nine rebounds while classmate Taylor Barrise ’12 netted eleven points and got seven boards.
The team headed to Tufts University on Saturday to take on the Jumbos, who are ranked last in the NESCAC. The Jeffs left their last of seven road games with an 84-70 victory.
Bradley said the team dominated both sides of the game. “Against Tufts we knew we would be in for a shoot-out, and I thought we outworked them on both ends of the floor, working the ball to get easy looks on offense, and playing hard and smart on D,” said the senior guard.
With especially impressive accuracy in the second half, the Jeffs finished with 52 percent overall shooting and 74 percent free throw shooting. Bradley scored 18 points in the game, as did Baskauskas. Baskauskas also got 10 rebounds as Holmes contributed seven. Sophomore Conor Meehan netted 22 points while adding eight rebounds and five assists.
With no games this week, the team is looking towards two key NESCAC matchups this weekend, against the conference’s first- and third-ranked teams. On Friday, the Jeffs will host Williams College (15-7, 5-2 NESCAC) at LeFrak Gymnasium and will face Middlebury (20-2, 7-0 NESCAC) at LeFrak on Saturday.
Bradley acknowledged that the games will be tough but said that the Jeffs, who have already earned a home game in the NESCAC quarterfinals, were ready for the challenge. “This weekend we will need to come to play both games in order to be successful. Against teams like Middlebury and Williams, we can’t go out and give 80 or 90 percent and expect to win. But if we commit to working hard and playing together, we have a great chance to get two huge wins.”