In sports, some of the most compelling matchups often carry connotations of past versus present -- an established champion going up against a high-potential up-and-comer.
Such will be the case this weekend in the world of NESCAC men's basketball, as conference leader and nationally ranked No. 13 Middlebury will travel to the conference's current second-place team and traditional powerhouse Amherst in a battle for first place and the right to host the NESCAC Tournament.
"This weekend is going to determine the playoff season for the NESCAC," Amherst senior co-captain Brian Baskauskas said. "Hosting the NESCAC Tournament is awesome, and it's a huge advantage."
The Lord Jeffs own a long history of achievement not only on the conference level but also nationally, having gone to the NCAA Final Four the past three years, including their title run in 2007. But the team has lost an unheard-of 11 seniors over the last two seasons, five of whom have gone pro.
This season, Amherst sports more youth but has still found success, compiling a 6-1 conference clip and 18-4 overall mark, though the team has done so with an arguably less competitive schedule than in years past. The team has only played two of the top four squads in the NESCAC, beating Williams in a game that did not count toward the Lord Jeffs' conference record and losing to Colby on the road. This weekend will be a true test for the purple and white, as it will face both third-place Williams and first-place Middlebury at home.
"Naturally, [this weekend is] really important," said Amherst coach Dave Hixon, who has won four NESCAC Championships since the tournament was instituted in 2001. "If we were to win both, we'd host the whole thing. With each of the games, I think you play for position. The good news is we have a home first round already locked up, and we're still in the hunt for an at-large or automatic bid [to the NCAA Tournament]; you just have to win every game you can this time of year."
Amherst is led by Baskauskas, who is third in the league in scoring with 16.6 points per game and shoots at a remarkably efficient 51.9 percent. But he and the Lord Jeffs will be challenged by the Ephs' two-headed monster of junior Blake Schultz and senior Kevin Snyder, who are second and fourth in the NESCAC in points, respectively.
While Amherst won the first battle with Williams 65-60 on Jan. 10, the team expects it to be a much different contest this time around, with both squads suffering from injuries to key players. Junior Joe Geoghegan, Williams' third-leading scorer with 12.6 points per game, is out with a stress fracture in his leg, while Amherst junior Steven Wheeler, the team's second-leading scorer with a 12.5-point average, will also be out.
"It's going to be interesting," Hixon said. "I think it'll be an entirely different game. A bunch of our guys have the 24-hour flu; we haven't been able to practice this week. I'm scrambling -- I may have to dress."
If Amherst gets by Williams, it will then have to look to the NESCAC's current top dog, Middlebury. The Panthers are 7-0 in the conference and 20-2 overall, breaking the program record of 19 wins that they set last year. They are led by their reigning NESCAC Player of the Week and NESCAC Player of the Year contender, senior co-captain point guard Ben Rudin, who is having the best season of his four-year career with averages of 14.7 points and 4.6 assists per contest.
"I think [my play] has to do a lot with the overall team and the talent we have on the team and others stepping up as well," Rudin said. "Nobody can focus on one player because we're all dangerous, and I believe that's been a big factor in my success this year. It's also just senior year, coming into my own. And we're all shooting for that NESCAC championship, we're all motivated, especially the seniors."
Rudin is complemented by senior co-captain Aaron Smith, who averages 8.2 points and 7.3 rebounds and has helped guide Middlebury to a 17-0 mark when he is on court. The Panthers also boast sophomore Andrew Locke, whose 78 blocks on the year are well ahead of next-highest NESCAC competitor Tufts junior Tom Selby and his 45. As a team, Middlebury is first in the nation in blocks and opponents' field goal percentage.
"I think the real key -- they have a bunch of good pieces -- is their point guard Ben Rudin," Hixon said. "We need to slow him down a bit. He's a good player; he makes them go. They've got all the pieces and senior leadership. So we're going to have to play our best and we're working on slowing him down."
"You know they play great defense, rebound very well and are unselfish and smart on offense," Baskauskas added. "We're just going to have to match their intensity on both ends of the floor and rebound. If we shoot as well as we can and max our intensity, we should be all set. But that game's definitely going to be a battle."
The Panthers, however, are not getting ahead of themselves when looking at the weekend competition, as they first must take on last year's NESCAC champion Trinity tonight.
"I'm worried about both opponents this weekend," Middlebury coach Jeff Brown said. "We play Trinity first. A concern for us is that they're extremely talented and certainly very athletic. They're returning key players from the NESCAC championship team of last season, so this week a lot of our focus has been on the first game. Obviously Amherst without saying is the premier program in New England, traditionally nationally ranked and so on, so it'll be a tough weekend for us to go on the road, but I'm quite pleased with our success in NESCAC play up until this point."
Still, the Panthers command an air of confidence about them heading into the game. Unlike previous years, in which Middlebury was young and Amherst was the favorite, this time the Panthers are the experienced ones and the Lord Jeffs are the ones relying on youth.
"We know they're going to be a tough competitor, but this is the first time in my four years when we are the more experienced team coming into the game," Rudin said. "The past three years, they were always more experienced, and to their credit they played as they should. But they graduated a great group of seniors last year. This year we're looking to take advantage of our experience."
"We've been confident all year in our ability to come away with a win," Smith added. "[These are] definitely the biggest games of the year this weekend. It'll come down to us playing our game and not getting rattled if things don't go the way we want early on. We do that and we're tough to beat."
While Amherst is not used to the underdog role, the team doesn't lack confidence. In fact, the Lord Jeffs, who lead the league in points and scoring margin as a team, believe that if things go well, they could be on their way to a fourth straight national Final Four.
"I do think anything can happen," Hixon said. "When we're healthy, I think we're a really interesting team. We have the ability on any given night -- even though we're a bit thin and young and inexperienced -- we can beat anybody because of how we shoot the ball.
"We're not as strong as we've been; we don't have the depth that we've had and we're playing three freshmen 20 minutes each," he continued. "Most people would say you can't do it with that, but that's why you play the games. I've seen some pretty unusual things happen. If we get healthy, who knows? We could get pretty deep. Do I think we're the best in the country? I don't. But the best doesn't always win. We shoot well and can be a problem for a lot of teams if we're healthy."
While Amherst is hoping for few fortunate bounces to go its way, Middlebury is less concerned with luck and more proud of the hard work that's brought the team to this point.
"I've been thinking about this since I was a freshman, what it would be like [to win the NESCAC Championship]," Smith said. "I think it's all starting to come together; everyone's on the same page. I think we're hitting our peak at the most important part of the season."
Still, Smith emphasized that in order to be considered the best, the Panthers first have to beat the best.
"[The balance of power] hasn't shifted yet," he said. "We have to prove to the NESCAC and everyone else that we are the top power in the NESCAC now. It's going to take wins on Friday and Saturday to do that. Until that happens, until we're NESCAC champs, it's anybody's for the taking."
"You have to give [Amherst] credit -- they've won championships, they have the credentials," Rudin said. "Right now we put ourselves on the national map as we deserve, but we need to build a resume of our own like Amherst to get the respect they've gotten. But right now we are the ranked team in the nation and we deserve that ranking."
Having completed what will be considered the best season in its history regardless of how this weekend plays out, the Panthers know the sky is the limit.
"I honestly think we could go as far as anyone as long as we play our basketball," Rudin said. "But right now [the NESCAC championship] is the goal and that's what we're shooting for. We all know how talented the NESCAC is, so if you don't play your game anything can happen, but if we do what we've done all year, we should find success."
"As far as NCAAs, last year the experience of being in the first round was so new," Smith added. "It was kind of surreal because we thought our season was over right before that. I wouldn't say we weren't experienced enough to handle that game, but now that we've got it off our backs, we know what it takes to win at that level. We're determined to see how far we can go; I think we can be playing in March."
