Junior Steven Wheeler said the game, which the Jeffs won 80-66, was an opportunity for the team’s various talents to come together. “Our execution is what makes us tough on offense. It is nice when shots are falling but we get better scoring opportunities when we trust our offense and make the extra pass. We also played aggressively on defense and used our size and athleticism. In the past we have gotten by simply by outscoring teams but this year we know defense has helped us in our successes,” said the guard/forward.
Though they jumped out to a big lead, 22-9, the Jeffs’ advantage narrowed to two before halftime. At the buzzer, Amherst led Trinity 33-30. The home team never allowed their guests to take the lead in the second half , finishing the game up by 14 points without shrinking the gap to less than three points.
The Jeffs had four double-digit scorers in the game: Wheeler with 14 points, co-captain Brian Baskauskas ’09 with 19, Conor Meehan ’11 with 17 and Marcus Bradley ’09 with 11. Three Amherst players led their team with five rebounds apiece: Jeff Holmes ’12, David Waller ’12 and co-captain Mike Holsey ’09.
This weekend, the NESCAC Tournament will conclude at top-seeded Middlebury College. The Jeffs will first face the third-seeded Williams Ephs on Saturday. With a win, they’ll move on to play Middlebury or fifth-seeded Bowdoin College on Sunday.
For now, though, the Amherst team is focusing on the game at hand; the Williams match-up is the first challenge. The Jeffs are 1-1 against the Ephs this season after notching a narrow 65-60 win at Williams on Jan. 10 and an 89-70 loss at home on Feb. 13.
“We know it will be a battle; it always is. We need to beat them on the boards the way we did up in Williamstown earlier this season. We let them get to the basket too easily. We need to stop their penetration and still defend their strong outside shooting. Our offense should take care of itself,” said Wheeler.
Baskauskas is also looking forward to the match-up. “Saturday’s game should be a great one. It’s a big game for a lot of different reasons, but most of all we just really want to bring home the NESCAC crown.”
Amherst has a strong post-season record in recent years. In 2007, the Jeffs were the national champions while in 2008 they were national runners-up. The team is optimistic about 2009.
Wheeler is looking to this weekend to extend the Jeffs’ 20-5 record. “With all the success we’ve had the last two years, with a national title and national runner-up, we still haven’t won the NESCAC tournament. That would mean a lot to me,” said the junior.
“Our goals are to win the NESCAC tournament this weekend and then go as far as we can in the NCAA tournament. The win against Trinity was huge for us. We are just now getting our whole team healthy and getting ready to see how long we can keep our season going,” said Baskauskas.