Panthers roll into first Final Four

As the Middlebury men’s basketball team advanced to the Division III Final Four for the first time in school history over the weekend with victories over Rochester and St. Mary’s, the Panthers are quickly becoming the living embodiment of the old phrase “defense wins championships.”
“It’s an incredible feeling” said freshmen guard Joey Kizel ’14, “Before the season started, our goal was to reach the Final Four. Making it there shows how hard we’ve worked and how hard we’ve been playing.”
Action began Friday night as Middlebury traveled down to Rochester to play the school on their home court, a controversial decision considering the Panthers higher playoff seeding. Middlebury jumped off to a quick 6-3 lead as leading scorer Ryan Sharry ’12 scored four early points. However, the Yellowjackets recovered fast after a pair of three’s by Mike Labanaowski saw the team up 9-6 with fifteen minutes left in the half.
Trailing 20-19 with less than ten minutes left in the period, Middlebury found themselves in their longest scoring drought of the season, not scoring another point until under the three-minute mark. Luckily, the team’s top-ranked defense, helped by eight blocked shots in the first period, held Rochester to just six points during the stretch. After a three pointer by Ryan Wholey ’11 and late basket by Jamal Davis ’11, the team found itself down just 28-24 despite the scoring drought.
Things turned around quickly for the Panthers at the start of the second period. Hitting their first three shots in a row, Middlebury retook the lead for the first time since the beginning of the game. After Rochester battled back to a tie game at the 15 minute mark, a three pointer from Sharry gave the Panthers a 35-32 lead, one which thy would never relinquish.
Although the Yellowjackets would cut Middlebury’s lead to just four late in the game, a pair of three’s by Jake Wolfin ’13 and solid free throw shooting secured the 61-52 victory and the team’s first trip to the Elite Eight.
Sharry led all scorers with 15 points while Wolfin had 13 for the Panthers. Middlebury held Rochester to 30 percent shooting from the floor while setting the defensive tone with an incredible 14-blocked shots.
A day later, Panthers found themselves with the opportunity to be one of four teams left in contention for the Division Three National Title, with St. Mary’s College the only obstacle in achieving that goal. Despite shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor for most of the first period, the Panthers found themselves down by 10 points with six minutes remaining in the half, a factor influenced by Middlebury’s 13 first-half turnovers. However, by buckling down their defense and finding ways to the basket, the Panthers used a late 9-0 run led by a three from guard Nolan Thompson ’13 and dunk from center Andrew Locke ’11 to narrow the deficit to just two points by the end of the first half.
Just like Friday, the Panthers came out firing to start the second period of play, going on an 11-2 run that the Seahawks would never recover from. Although St. Mary’s cut the lead to five with 12 minutes remaining in the half, that would be as close as they would come to reclaiming victory.
After a monstrous alley-oop from Sharry gave the Panthers a double-digit advantage, the team used smart play and excellent shooting to close out the 65-50 victory and the first Final Four appearance in school history. Middlebury shot over 55 percent from the field, with Jake Wolfin’s 16 points and Andrew Locke’s 13 leading the charge.
The Panthers now travel to Salem, Virginia to play St. Thomas College in hopes of getting one step closer to the Division III title, where perennial rival Williams is a possible opponent in what could be an all-NESCAC final.