Prior to tip-off inside Middlebury's Pepin Gym on Friday night, the undefeated Amherst men's basketball team may have been indulging fantasies of a perfect season. The Lord Jeffs seemed poised to sweep its two weekend games, which would have tied the school's all-time longest winning streak of 23 games, a mark set in 2007. Two wins would have also secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming NESCAC Tournament.
But despite the team's unmistakable success through its first 21 games, Amherst came back to earth this weekend, losing first to Middlebury and then dropping a contest against Williams the following afternoon. In just a 24-hour span, the Lord Jeffs saw their dreams of an undefeated season slip away, along with any hope of locking up the top seed for the NESCAC tournament.
To say Amherst choked in the final weekend of the season would be misleading. Heading into their final slate of games, the Lord Jeffs knew they had their hands full. It's hard enough to play two consecutive NESCAC opponents on the road, but when both teams are ranked in the top five in the country, a team's chances of winning both contests are slim. Middlebury and Williams had a combined 40-2 record, including an impressive 14-1 mark against NESCAC opponents, heading into their matchups against Amherst.
And both matchups lived up to their billing. On Friday night, Middlebury, the best defensive team in the nation, gave the Lord Jeffs all they could handle. In a game that featured 13 ties, the Panthers held a 56-54 lead with 5:00 to play before pulling away at the free-throw line for a 69-61 victory. Middlebury junior forward Ryan Sharry had a career night, scoring a game-high 18 points while corralling a game-best 13 rebounds and career-high five assists.
The Amherst squad, which had to be a bit demoralized by that point, then had to quickly pack its bags and make the three-hour trip to Williams College to play the second-ranked team in the nation. To make matters worse, the Ephs were seething to avenge their heartbreaking 92-89 overtime loss to the Lord Jeffs on the Amherst home floor back on Jan. 8. Saturday's contest proved to be yet another classic battle between the archrivals.
The final 12:17 of play saw the teams trade leads four times. With just under four minutes to play, the Jeffs found themselves trailing by only one point when sophomore guard Nate Robertson drilled a dagger to give the Ephs a 71-67 cushion, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
"We had more defensive discipline this game than we did the last time we played these guys," Williams Coach Mike Maker said. "I think we fed off the energy of our crowd, and we obviously really appreciate the support from our student body and our community."
While Amherst took an emotional hit this weekend, the team's ultimate goals of claiming the NESCAC crown and winning the NCAA tournament are still within reach. Its path, however, will be difficult. The pair of losses over the weekend relegated the Lord Jeffs to third in the NESCAC standings. As a result, they will be matched up against sixth-seeded Bates in the quarterfinal round on Saturday. The Bobcats have posted a mediocre 12-12 record this season, but the Lord Jeffs barely squeaked out a six-point victory against them in the two teams' last meeting on Feb. 5.
If the Lord Jeffs make it to the second round of play, they will likely have to travel back to Pepin Gym for a rematch against Middlebury, who hosts a woeful Conn. College squad this Saturday.
It'll be a tough road, but Amherst Coach David Hixon, now in his 35th year with the program, is trying to keep his team mentally prepared for the new challenge.
"Sure, we're disappointed to slip up like this at this juncture of the season, but, despite what some may have believed, our goal never was to have a perfect season," he said. "We go into every game expecting to win, and that mentality won't change now."
