All good things must come to an end as the Middlebury Men’s basketball team record-breaking season came to an end Friday at the ends of St. Thomas (29-3), narrowly missing the team’s first Division 3 Championship appearance. However, the Panthers did not go down without a fight.
Middlebury jumped out to an early lead to start the game after a basket and pair of blocks by leading scorer Ryan Sharry ’12 gave the team a 7-2 advantage. After battling back to an 11-11 tie thanks to tight defense and quick three point shooting, the Tommies kept the game close through most of the first half. However, a 10-2 run in the final two and a half minutes of the first half gave St. Thomas a 32-25 lead going into the locker room.
Uncharacteristically, the Panthers shot just 33 percent from the floor in the first period, missing on all nine of their three point attempts.
“They cranked up defensively and I have to give St. Thomas credit” said head coach Jeff Brown.
Meanwhile, the Tommies made four of their seven three point attempts, shooting 41 percent from the floor on the top-ranked defensive team in the tournament.
Unlike the first, the second half proved to be a series of runs and droughts by both teams. Middlebury scored the first three shots of the half, cutting the lead to just one. However, the Tommies struck right back, going on a 9-0 run of their own thanks to four points from Tommy Hannon to take an eight point lead, the largest of the game.
The Panthers quickly responded, going on a seven minute, 18-3 run which found Jake Wolfin ’13 and Nolan Thompson ’13 finding Middlebury’s three point stroke while the team took a 50-43 lead.
Slowly chipping away with lockdown defense, the Tommies found themselves ahead by five with just a minute remaining in the contest.
However, Middlebury was still not done. After an enormous three by Thompson cut the lead to two, Senior Jamal Davis ’11 stole the ball with 16 seconds remaining, giving the Panthers one last chance.
Following a timeout, the Panthers tried their best to get the ball inside to Sharry for the tie. Denied by the Tommies, Thompson shot one last three for the win as the buzzer sounded, barely missing as the ball clanked off the front of the rim. St Thomas escaped with a 59-57 victory as the Panthers incredible season came to an end.
Despite the loss, the Panthers season has been quite a historic one. The team finished a school best 28-2, reaching the sweet 16, elite eight and final four for the first time in school history.
On an individual note, Ryan Sharry became just the second player in school history, after Ben Rudin, to receive All-American honors. The Panthers say goodbye to Davis, Andrew Locke ’11, Ryan Wholey ’11 and Andrew Plumley ’11 this season, yet return with a group of players ready to continue the success that has come to mark Middlebury Basketball.
Panthers’ season ends in heartbreaking loss
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