Looking Back (April 14) | Men's lacrosse shows Amherst who's boss
Despite appearing in the national championship game in the past two years, many people expected the men's lacrosse team to surrender its position atop the NESCAC to Amherst this season. But with a 15-5 rout of the Lord Jeffs on Saturday, the seventh-ranked Jumbos solidified their status as the team to beat in the NESCAC with a 10-2 overall record.
The Lord Jeffs had no answers for the high-powered Jumbos' offense, allowing nine different players to score goals in the lopsided contest. Sophomore midfielder Beau Wood, the NESCAC leader in points per game, continued his season-long dominance by scoring four times, including back-to-back goals to start the second half. Senior co-captain Kevin McCormick and sophomore Peter Bowers chipped in with two goals and two assists each.
The Tufts defense, led by sophomore Dan Alles' four ground balls, did a phenomenal job stifling a normally potent Amherst attack, giving up only five goals on 39 shots. The Lord Jeffs failed to score in the first 25 minutes of the contest.
With three games remaining in the regular season, Tufts appears to have the inside track in the battle for the top seed in the NESCAC tournament. The Jumbos take on the Bates Bobcats in Maine tonight.
Looking Ahead (April 19) | Heat to host Bulls in South Beach
Coming into this lockout-shortened season, almost every NBA analyst predicted that the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls would finish with the top two seeds in the Eastern Conference and face off in a rematch of last year's Conference Finals. Right now, the analysts are looking smart.
Despite suffering setbacks in recent weeks, both teams are near locks to finish at the top of the conference. The Heat, even with LeBron James having arguably the best season of his career, have stumbled of late, going just 15-11 since the All-Star break. The Bulls, on the other hand, have won 13 of their last 18 games, even though star point guard Derrick Rose has missed many of them with myriad injuries.
On Thursday night, the two teams will square off in South Beach in their final head-to-head matchup of the regular season. Chicago holds a three-game lead over Miami for the first seed in the East and is ahead in the season series 2-1. One of the keys to the game will be how Miami handles the tough interior play of a Chicago team that leads the NBA in rebounding. Miami struggles at times against bigger opponents, and it will be Chris Bosh's responsibility to overcome his reputation for being "soft" in the post and help secure the boards for the Heat.
