Although it was almost ten months ago, members of the Colby men's basketball team painfully remember their 74-73 overtime loss to Tufts in last year's ECAC title game, when the underdog Jumbos finished off a Cinderella playoff run on Colby's home court. Tonight the White Mules will look for revenge at Tufts' Cousens Gym.
The White Mules have won three of their last four, including a 90-69 thrashing of Middlebury on Saturday. Tonight, the Jumbos will have to find an answer for Colby senior center Sam Clark, who is averaging 21 points and 9.5 rebounds. The responsibility of covering the NESCAC's leading scorer will likely fall on senior co-captain Dan Flaherty, who at 6'7" is an inch taller than Clark.
At 14-4 on the season, chances are that the men's basketball team will see some form of playoff action, possibly on its home court. But just in case, this weekend marks the last time Jumbo fans can witness a regular season home basketball game. The women have already wrapped up their regular season home schedule, while the men will finish when they host Bowdoin tomorrow.
The men come into the weekend sporting a 2-1 NESCAC record, having defeated one of New England's top teams, Keene State, on the road Wednesday night. Both Flaherty and sophomore Kyle Van Natta contributed 19 points, a career-high for Van Natta. Sophomore guard Brian Shapiro returned from a two-game absence due to a sprained ankle and, while not starting, scored 10 points in 13 minutes.
Freshman Phil Barlow started in Shapiro's place and averaged 9.0 points over the three-game span. But Barlow will likely be relegated back to the bench this weekend, with Shapiro, the team's second-leading scorer at 15.2 ppg, reclaiming his spot in the starting lineup.
Despite the win over Keene State, the Jumbos come off a trying week and a half. After losing to New England's top team, UMass-Dartmouth, last week, Tufts split a pair of NESCAC games with Trinity and Amherst. The men came from behind in the final minutes to top Trinity on Friday before coughing up a second-half lead in a 72-60 loss to Amherst on Saturday.
Now finished with its non-conference schedule, Tufts plays six straight NESCAC games to close out the season. The NESCAC tournament then begins, with the top seven of the conference's ten teams qualifying. Ranks will be distributed based on NESCAC records.
Four of the team's last six games come against opponents currently under .500 in conference play - but the other two are this weekend's foes; Colby comes in at 3-1, in conference, and Bowdoin at 2-2.
The Bowdoin Polar Bears, who are 2-2 in conference play, 12-5 overall, are led by senior David Baranowski, who is averaging 14.5 ppg and 7.1 rpg. The sharpshooter leads the NESCAC in shooting percentage, at a scorching .688 clip.
The women's team also takes on Colby and Bowdoin this weekend, but both games will be on the road.
