Men's Basketball | NESCACs hold no surprises as top three teams advance

    For the most part, the opening weekend of the NESCAC Men's Basketball Tournament went according to script. The top three seeds — Middlebury, Amherst and Williams — all defended their respective home courts, and fifth-seeded Bowdoin produced the weekend's only upset, winning at Colby. Following the Panthers' victory, the semifinals and finals will be played at Middlebury this coming weekend, with Middlebury taking on Bowdoin and Amherst facing Williams.
    The top-seeded Middlebury Panthers defeated the Conn. College Camels 78-62 on Saturday afternoon in front of the 1,031 fans that packed Pepin Gym. With the raucous crowd behind it, Middlebury went on an early 17-2 run and took a 21-7 lead with 14:15 left in the half. The Camels had no answer for senior co-captain and guard Ben Rudin, who scored eight straight points during the run and finished the day with 29.
    "I'm quite impressed with the level to which [Rudin] has taken his game," Middlebury coach Jeff Brown said. "On the offensive end, he has certainly carried our team."
    The lead was extended all the way to 27 in the second half before Conn. College began chipping away at the home team's advantage. A three-pointer by Camels senior tri-captain Ulises Veras cut the deficit to just 11 with 2:39 to play, but that was as close as they would get.
    In Amherst, Mass., the second-seeded Lord Jeffs took down the seventh-seeded Trinity Bantams, who won the NESCAC tournament last year, 80-66, behind an impressive 10-for-17 three-point shooting display and 58 percent shooting from the field. Amherst held a three-point lead at halftime, but early in the second frame, Amherst All-American forward and senior co-captain Brian Baskauskas found his stroke and made three consecutive three-pointers, the last one to give his team a 50-38 lead. The Lord Jeffs' advantage dipped to five points with 11:08 left, but they quickly rebounded and remained around double digits for the rest of the game as Amherst made its free throws and kept the Bantams from making a serious run.
    "We came out looking to shoot the three," Amherst coach Dave Hixon said. "As a team, we need to shoot 10 to 20 threes a game because that's a strength that we have."
    In a rematch of a physical regular season game, third-seeded Williams advanced past sixth-seeded Bates, 87-78. The game was close throughout, but the Ephs seemed to have an answer for every Bates run. With 1:56 to play, a three-pointer by Bobcats senior tri-captain Ben Thayer cut Williams' lead to three, 76-73, but the Ephs responded with a layup by junior Blake Schultz and two free-throws by sophomore Troy Whittington to push the lead back up to seven points, 80-73, and the game was effectively over.
    According to Hixon, the difference-maker for Williams was backup freshman point guard James Wang, who finished the game with 12 points.
    "He's a terrific young point guard, an energy kid who can get to the glass," he said. "He's very quick [and] very tenacious."
    In the No. 4 versus No. 5 matchup, the Bowdoin Polar Bears upset the Colby Mules in Waterville, Maine, 66-54. While the Mules got off to a quick start in front of their energetic crowd, a three-pointer from freshman Ryan O'Connell with 7:18 left in the first half gave the Polar Bears a 20-18 lead, one which they would never relinquish. After holding a 32-25 halftime advantage, Bowdoin started the second half with a 16-4 run, taking the air out of Wadsworth Gymnasium. Colby would never get closer than 11 points from that point forward. Junior Mark Phillips led the visitors with 15 points, and sophomore Will Hanley came off the bench to score 13.
    "Bowdoin is very fundamentally sound," Brown said. "They're physical and aggressive. They defend very well, and they execute well offensively. I view [the upcoming Middlebury-Bowdoin game] as a tough matchup."
    With the quarterfinals in the books, the matchups are set for this weekend at Middlebury, marking the first time the championship will not be played at Amherst since the 2003-04 season. Still, Hixon isn't worried about the change of scenery.
    "We're pretty good playing on the road, and it doesn't bother me at all to be away from home" he said. "I'm just excited to be in it."
    Middlebury beat Bowdoin earlier in the year, 62-50, while Amherst and Williams split the season series. The winners of each game will meet on Sunday with the NESCAC title on the line as well as an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
    "We're going to have a terrific environment for the games," Brown said. "We're excited and we're looking forward to the challenge of competing for a NESCAC Championship."