Panthers fall to Ephs in finals

This past weekend, the Middlebury men’s basketball team arrived at the NESCAC tournament venue — Williams — intent on securing its second straight league championship. After striking down Colby and breaking records along the way, the Panthers finally succumbed to Williams, arguably the best D-III team in the nation.

Middlebury took court Saturday as the tournament’s #2 seed with a 23-2 overall record. Despite a slow start, the Panthers eventually found their rhythm and dispatched the Mules by a score of 65-48. With their 24th win on the season, the Panthers tied a school record.  Captain Tim Edwards ’10 also entered the record books as Middlebury’s all-time steals leader, breaking John Humphrey’s (’85-’88) school record of 190 with his lone steal of the game.

Colby came out strong and eager to knock off the defending champs, grabbing an early 4-2 advantage. That, however, would be their only lead of the game. The game see-sawed for much of the first half with Middlebury owning a four-point advantage at intermission, but the Panthers then turned their focus to the inside game. Center Andrew Locke ’11 scored the first six points of the second half en route to a game-high of 13, with numerous dunks — including a beautiful one-handed alley-oop jam off of a feed by Edwards — to bolster some Panther momentum. In 15 minutes of second-half play, Middlebury built a 23-point lead that would not be surmounted.

Guard Nolan Thompson ’13 also dropped 13 points on the day. Both Thompson and Locke frustrated the Mules with efficient shooting (both were 5-for-7 from the field) and timely offense. Locke patrolled the paint with the help of Jamal Davis ’11 (four blocks) and Ryan Sharry ’12 (game-high three steals) to help limit Colby to just 28 percent shooting in the second half. Middlebury’s suffocating perimeter defense, led by Edwards and Jake Wolfin ’13 (two steals), forced 19 turnovers and limited the Mules to just seven team assists.

Middlebury’s repeat run came up short the next day, as they faced Williams and its packed home gymnasium. The Ephs (improving to 26-1) quickly justified their #2 national ranking, scoring the first 10 points of the game and eventually building a 30-11 lead with 13 minutes left in the half. Down 10 to start the second half, Middlebury stuck around, cutting the lead to five with a Wolfin three-pointer and a Sharry lay-in. Every time the Panthers made a quick run, though, the Ephs made one of their own. The lead bounced from five to 10 throughout the second half, but Williams, led by star guard James Wang (19 points), managed timely execution and held off numerous Panther runs.

Sharry led the Panthers with 13 points while Wolfin, Edwards, and Locke all contributed 11, providing the bulk of the scoring output for Middlebury.  The home crowd was a definite influence; Middlebury battled valiantly, but Williams shot 44 percent against the Panthers’ nation-leading field goal defense. The Ephs also posted a +6 rebounding advantage, with forward Joe Goeghegan grabbing 15.

Despite the loss, the Panthers look forward to what they hope will be a strong showing in their third consecutive national tournament appearance.

“We started slow against Williams,” noted Edwards, “but we played at a high level throughout the game and are confident in our ability to make a deep run in the upcoming tournament.” The Panthers will host Gordon at 8 p.m. this Friday in Pepin Gymnasium. With a victory, Middlebury will take on a team to be determined at 7 p.m. on Saturday.