There's no place like home

LEWISTON, ME _ Oh what a difference a home can make.

As the men's basketball team approaches its seventh consecutive game away from Cousens Gym, it seems apparent that the Jumbos are ready to go home.

As the capacity crowd of about 400-500 roared in Alumni Gym in Lewiston, you couldn't help but get the sense the Jumbos were ready to have a few fans cheering for them.

"That's the hardest thing, to get a crowd totally against you. The gym only holds like two or three hundred people but [Bates has] some great fans," senior co-captain Jim Wilson said. "We've got some fans like that too, but we haven't played at home in six games."

A quick glance at the box score from the men's basketball team's loss at Bates on Saturday can give you all the information you need to see how much of a difference a partisan home crowd can make.

Bates shot 44.6 percent from the floor, and an even 50 percent in the second half when the Bobcats pulled away. And more impressive was the Bobcats' 58.3 percent shooting from down town. The team's free throw percentage was equally strong, as it shot 73.8 percent.

But perhaps even more indicative of the crowd's influence were Tufts' numbers: 36.8 percent from the floor in the second half, including 28.6 percent from three point land. And the most damning of all: 40 percent from the free throw line, for the entire game. It seemed that the crowd got to the Jumbos, particularly at the free throw line, as the fans roared whenever Tufts sent a player to the stripe. Sophomore Craig Coupe, who went to the line more than any other player in the game, hit just four of his 12 free throw attempts. The team as a whole missed 15 free throws, and in a game it lost by 16 points, 15 free throws would have helped.

But this is not to say that Tufts can't play on the road. Quite the contrary, the team has gone 4-2 on this recent road swing. The difference against Bates was the energy and size of the crowd at the game.

"We have seven games on the road, but it hasn't really affected us until now because some of the crowds haven't been coming out," Wilson said. "But they always get a great crowd here at Bates."

Bates too knows the impact that its crowd can have on a game. As the Bobcats pulled ahead in Saturday's game, the crowd got louder and louder, and the team's numbers improved significantly.

"We love playing in Alumni Gym, and historically we've played really well here," Bates coach Joe Reilly said. "We haven't lost a non-conference game at home in five seasons."

The Bates crowd acted as a "sixth man" in the game, increasing the Bobcats' confidence while shaking the Jumbos'. After Wilson launched an air ball on his first shot, the entire gym screamed "air ball" whenever the ball landed in his hands. And whether or not the crowd was the reason, Wilson's shooting suffered in the game. The co-captain, who averages 10.9 points per game and has shot 45 percent from the field, was just 2-6 from the floor and had just six points on Saturday.

"I don't know if the crowd affected us," coach Bob Sheldon said. "Maybe a little bit. The crowd, Mike [McGlynn] getting hit in the face with the ball, the officiating, it all kind of knocked us back a little bit and that threw us off. We're not hanging our heads or anything. We just need to play at home."

The Jumbos' road stretch will come to an end after Tuesday's game at Brandeis, McGlynn's former school. Tufts will play Amherst at home on Friday, a game that promises to be tough, especially following the Lord Jeffs' win over Williams on Saturday.

The Jumbos, however, hope that they can do the same thing that Bates did, and turn their home court advantage into a win.

"It'll be good to get home." Wilson said.