Men’s basketball jumps to second

As the NESCAC championship creeps closer and closer, the Middlebury men’s basketball team keeps on rolling in the victories. With victories over previously undefeated Amherst and Trinity during the weekend, the team now finds itself 20-1 going into the final stretch of the regular season.

The weekend began with a 69-61 win over Amherst (21-1) on Friday in front of a crowd topping 1,000 at Pepin Gymnasium.

“I think our crowd, especially in the second half, gave us the boost we needed to pull away” said guard Jake Wolfin ’13. “ The team really loved the atmosphere they created.”

The game was a defensive battle throughout, with Middlebury’s top-ranked defense holding the Lord Jeffs to just 31 percent shooting from the floor. The first half of play was a frenzy in every sense of the term. The contest became tied on seven separate occasions while low field goal percentages from both teams lead to hectic rebounding battles under the hoop. Either tied or trailing for most of the half, the Panthers gained the lead late in the period after, trailing by one, guard Nolan Thompson ’13 connected on consecutive shots, one a three pointer, to give Middlebury a 30-26 advantage. However, with less than a minute remaining in the period, Lord Jeff Taylor Barrise drew a foul behind the three-point line, connecting on all three of his foul shot attempts and leaving the Panthers with only a one point half-time advantage.

Foul trouble again plagued Middlebury throughout the first portion of the second half as Amherst gained its biggest lead, 43-39, by successfully capitalizing on free throw attempts with 15 minutes left in regulation. However, with the game tied at 45 following a missed field goal by the Panthers, center Andrew Locke ’11 gave the Panthers a lead they would not give up, with a spectacular one-handed put-back dunk that got the whole crowd on their feet. Leading 56-54 with five minutes remaining in regulation, Middlebury capitalized on 13 of 18 free throw attempts to secure the 69-61 victory, handing Amherst their first loss. Forward Ryan Sharry ’12 led the team with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Wolfin added 16 points and Thompson had a dozen.
Just a day later, the Panthers again found themselves in an all-out battle against the Trinity Bantams (13-11).

“(Trinity) defended us very aggressively and shot the ball well from the three-point line” said coach Jeff Brown after the game. Committing 11 turnovers in the first half of play, the Panthers still held a 25-21 halftime advantage due in large part to forcing 10 Bantam turnovers.

Taking over the first part of the second half, team points leader Sharry scored nine points for the Panthers, giving the team a 36-29 advantage with fifteen minutes in regulation. Yet, with only eight minutes remaining in the game, Trinity was able to tie the score at 42 thanks to hot three-point shooting by Luke Macdougall and Eric Dean. The game would remain a tied frenzy until a 6-0 with less than three minutes left in regulation gave the Panthers a 57-51 advantage.

However, up by two with only 13 seconds remaining, Middlebury sent Bantam Ian Fells to the foul line with a chance to tie the game. After missing the first free throw, Fells tried to intentionally miss the second, accidentally banking it in and giving Middlebury the 57-56 victory. With the victory, one which closes out the NESCAC season for the Panthers, Middlebury not only secured it’s third straight 20- win season; the team also locked itself into the second seed of the upcoming NESCAC finals where they will play seventh-ranked Connecticut College at Middlebury on Saturday.

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