Looking Back (FEB. 23) | Nets 98, Sixers 96
Monday night's matchup between two struggling teams — the New Jersey Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers — proved to be anything but dull.
The Nets' Devin Harris singlehandedly ended his team's five-game losing streak with a 47-foot heave of the basketball as time expired that hit nothing but net. After several minutes of deliberation, the officiating crew decided that the shot was good, resulting in an exuberant celebration by Harris at the center of the court as well as a slew of high fives from head coach Lawrence Frank.
Harris was by far the Nets' top player, even without the heroic shot to win the game, as he put up 39 points on an 11-for-22 effort from the floor as well as two rebounds and eight assists.
Harris' final three-pointer was actually his second attempt at that shot. With a second left on the clock and his team down by a point, Harris went to toss up a shot from behind the halfcourt line but was stuffed by 76ers forward Andre Iguodala. Unfortunately for Iguodala and the Sixers, the original shot that was broken up landed right back in Harris' hands, and in a swift motion, Harris put the ball right back up in the air in less than a second. It went in.
Looking Ahead (FEB. 28) | Women's basketball vs. Amherst — NESCAC Semifinal
The last time the women's basketball team reached the final four of the NESCAC Tournament, the road to the final went through Amherst — literally. The Jumbos downed Wesleyan, 67-50, on March 2, 2008 at Amherst's LeFrak Gym before falling to the host Lord Jeffs in the finals the following day.
This time, the Jumbos will have to get through Amherst again. In Maine.
Again the Jumbos got past Wesleyan, beating the Cardinals 71-57 in the opening round last weekend, and now they will take on Amherst in the No. 2-versus-No. 3 matchup as both teams travel to visit No. 1 Bowdoin. The Lord Jeffs have won the last three matchups with the Jumbos by an average of under five points, and their young talent has come on strong recently, as sophomore Jaci Daigneault won back-to-back NESCAC Player of the Week honors on the heels of classmate Sarah Leyman's win.
Tufts reached the NESCAC semifinal game with a balanced attack from its starting five, as all Jumbo starters scored at least eight points in the win over the Cardinals. Amherst, meanwhile, annihilated Colby in the opening round, building up an early 45-16 advantage and emptying the bench. Daigneault finished with 22 points and freshman guard Kim Fiorentino added 12 as the Jeffs rolled, 77-36.
