Men's basketball opens up NESCAC play with two wins Overtime thriller vs. Bates and blowout win over Tufts extends win streak to 10

Author: Jeff Klein

Make it double digits now for the Panthers.

With several alumni on hand and the Pepin Palace rocking, the Middlebury men's basketball team edged Bates in overtime 73-65 and then blew out Tufts 104-68 to extend its winning streak to 10, and more importantly, begin NESCAC competition with two key victories.

"We were able to control the boards and get out quickly in transition," said Ryan Wholey '11, commenting on the convincing win over Tufts. "Ben Rudin '09 and Tim Edwards '09.5 are constantly looking to push tempo and we are wearing out teams with our conditioning and speed."

The two games could not have been more different.

Against Bates on Friday, Jan. 16, Middlebury struggled offensively for much of the game, a surprising fact for a team that had put up the second most points in the NESCAC going into this weekend's competition. The game remained close for much of the first half before a quick 7-0 run by Bates gave the Bobcats a 30-23 lead at the 1:02 mark.

Ryan Sharry '12 netted a pair of key buckets as time wound down to cut the Bobcats' lead to 30-27 at the half.

Yet for much of the second half, it appeared as if Middlebury would not be able to seize control, as the team struggled to convert from the free throw line and uncharacteristically missed several easy layups.

Bates, though, could not put the Panthers away. The Bobcats maintained a small lead for much of the half before Rudin took matters into his own hands. The feisty senior point guard had a pair of baskets and a beautiful assist to Jamal Davis '11 to give Middlebury its first lead of the half, 48-47.

The Bobcats retook the lead at 54-52, and after Kyle Dudley '09 was not able to convert on a three-point attempt, the Panthers were forced to foul with just 30 seconds left. However, Jimmy O'Keefe would only make one of two free throws, which proved to be crucial.

Rudin dribbled up the court and launched a three from the left wing. The shot was off, but Sharry came up huge, pulling down the rebound and finding an open Dudley in the left corner. Dudley drained the shot, tying the game and sending the Middlebury faithful into a frenzy.

"I was really excited when I hit the three," said Dudley. "I hadn't shot well all game and I had missed one a few minutes earlier and all I wanted was another opportunity. I felt like that three got the momentum back on our side and felt confident with our chances if we could just get it to overtime."

Bates missed a desperation three at the buzzer, which did send the game into overtime. From there, it was all Middlebury. The Panthers quickly opened up a seven-point lead and then drained 10 of 12 free throws to seal the win. Davis put the nail in the coffin with a thunderous fast-break dunk with 37 seconds remaining, leading to chants of "Nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey, goodbye!" and "Warm up the bus!" in the Panther crowd.

Instrumental in the overtime was the smothering Panther defense. Edwards shadowed Bates' point guard Chris Wilson, who had picked apart Middlebury's defense with relative ease earlier in the game, and shut him down, holding him scoreless in the extra session.

Edwards gave credit to the entire team in limiting Wilson's impact when the game was on the line. "The key to stopping him in the final few minutes was our whole team defensive effort," he said. "Everyone stepped up on the defensive end throughout the whole game and especially late in the game."

But the unquestioned MVP of the game was Rudin, who scored a career-high 28 points and played a pivotal role in bringing the Panthers back from their late second-half deficit. Like Edwards, Rudin chose to deflect the credit away from himself and onto his team.

"It felt nice scoring 28 only because we were able to pull out the victory," he said. "Because our team is so talented, it is tough for other teams to provide helpside defense without paying for it. This put myself and other members of the team in situations where we can score."

As exciting as Friday night's game was, Saturday afternoon's contest against Tufts proved to be a laugher. Breaking open an early tie, Middlebury went on a 32-6 run midway through the first half and never looked back.

The Panthers opened up a commanding 72-37 lead early in the second half, and from that point on it was garbage time in Pepin Gym. Every Panther player saw action against the Jumbos, with eight Middlebury players scoring at least eight points.

The Panthers were clearly sharper and more focused against the Jumbos than they had been for most of the previous night. Not only did they shoot 55 percent from the floor, they also buckled down at the free throw line and hit 17 of 20 shots, atoning for the 18 for 31 performance against Bates.

"We knew we needed to execute better in the first half than we did on Friday night against Bates," said Wholey.

Rudin continued his excellent play and established his second personal record of the weekend, dishing out a career-high 14 assists. He now has 405 assists as a Middlebury Panther, just five shy of the school record set by Mike Faucher from 1996 to 1999. Just as impressive, Rudin's outstanding efforts over the two days earned him NESCAC Player of the Week.

Also integral to the Panthers' success against Tufts were a pair of rookies, Sharry and Wholey, who established themselves on the offensive end and led the team in scoring. Sharry netted 15 points while Wholey dropped in 14.

"A big goal of our team is to get out into transition," said Sharry. "When we beat the other team down the floor, we get a lot of easy scores and I was on the receiving end of many of those today."

"We got some good looks in our offensive sets and I happened to be on the receiving end," added Wholey. "We have a very balanced and deep team and push each other in practice."

Middlebury has now won 10 games in a row and will hope to maintain its success on the road, as the team travels to Connecticut College and Wesleyan University this weekend.

According to Sharry, the Panthers' smothering defense has been instrumental in the 10-game streak. "What we really have done well during the streak is defend," the forward said. "We have been putting forth great efforts on that end of the court, and when we play great defense, our offense comes along with it."

Aaron Smith '09 made it clear that the team would not get complacent or overconfident by its recent success. "This weekend was a great start," the veteran center said, "but we know how hard it is to win on the road in the NESCAC. We need to stay focused, continue to get better, and really work towards perfecting our defensive intensity and offensive fluidity."

Heading into the heart of its NESCAC schedule, Middlebury is clicking on all cylinders right now.