Tight Loss at Tufts Leaves Men's Hoops Waiting Until Next Year

Author: Matt Ross

The Middlebury men's basketball season came to an end Saturday in the first round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Tournament at the hands of the Tufts Jumbos, who defeated the Panthers 89-81 in front of 650 fans in Medford, Mass. After keeping pace with Tufts in the first half, Middlebury ran out of gas in the second as Tufts slowly opened their lead. The team played well and displayed the fire that had been the trademark of their wins this season, but still came up short. The Panthers forced 20 turnovers while only committing 12 and hit 78 percent of their free throws. However, the team got pounded on the boards (50-37) and was uncharacteristically poor from three-point range (6-26), with no Middlebury player hitting from downtown more than once. Those statistics, along with the Panthers' mediocre shooting in the second half (40 percent) were not enough to beat a strong and committed Tufts team.
In his last game in a Middlebury uniform, Captain Eric Bundonis '03 led the team with 17 points. Captain David Coratti '04, Nate Anderson '04 and Simon Behan '05 all scored double digits for the Panthers in the game. Clark Read '05 said following the game, "We were right there in the first half, but Tufts was just too strong, and the crowd was too involved for us to make a real push in the second half. It was a disappointing loss."
The season marked one the school's best ever. Fifteen wins was the most for the team since the '74-'75 season, four wins was an all-time high in NESCAC play, the team won the Norwich tournament and the team qualified for the NESCAC Tournament. All of this was accomplished in a year when NESCAC basketball--having two nationally ranked teams--was as strong as it has been since the conference's creation.
Middlebury basketball has evolved, although it has never been easy. The process started in 2000 when Coach Jeff Brown brought in the school's best class of basketball players in its history and continued with the addition of the Class of 2005. This season marked the unveiling of this talent, as the team's success well reflects. While the Panthers will sorely miss the talents of their lone senior Bundonis, the 2003-2004 season will showcase the talents of the Classes of 2004 and 2005. With so many minutes, victories and lessons under its belt, it would be unfair to expect anything but great things from next year's team.
"The future is very promising," Coratti said. "We will make sure that we are hosting playoff games next year."