If it is any consolation, basketball places third at Gordon Tournament St. Lawrence runs by Middlebury with 17-0 a run

Author: Jeff Klein

With both the talent and unity to make a serious run in this year's NESCAC tournament, the Middlebury men's basketball team looked to start off the 2006-2007 season on the right note. Playing three consecutive road games to open the season, the team showed stints of promising play but failed to sustain that effort in an 80-64 defeat to St. Lawrence.

The Panthers played a solid first half against the Saints, capitalizing on 42.4 percent shooting to take a 34-30 halftime lead. Middlebury increased their lead to 57-51 with 9:51 remaining, before a 17-0 run by St. Lawrence, which completely changed the momentum and put the game out of the Panthers' reach.

"Our ability to play with poise is going to be a huge factor in how successful we can be," said Captain Wil Hyatt '07 in reference to the second half meltdown. The Panthers will need to learn to maintain their poise late in games if they want to make noise in late February.

Four days earlier, the team opened its season at the Gordon College Tip-Off Tournament, where it followed an 83-73 loss to M.I.T. with a record-breaking 120-61 win over Mt. Ida. In the game against M.I.T., the Panthers found themselves in the opposite position they had been in against St. Lawrence. This time they trailed virtually throughout, as M.I.T. built an early ten-point lead it would never relinquish. The lead grew to 17 by halftime, and Middlebury could narrow the deficit only back to ten points for the final margin. Despite the loss, the Panthers did exhibit a balanced scoring attack. Ben Rudin '09 led the way with 16 points, and three other Panthers scored in double digits.

In the consolation game against Mt. Ida, Middlebury's team play and balanced scoring was again evident, but this time they provided the desired result as the Panthers roared to a 59-point victory. Every Panther scored in this lopsided contest, and the 120 points is a new school record, topping the 117-point efforts by the teams of '88 and '60. As indicated by the score, the Panther offense was unstoppable, with the Panthers using their superior talent, depth and transition game to overwhelm Mt. Ida.

"The Mt. Ida game was our system working to perfection," said Ben Ehrlich '09. "We caused turnovers and turned them into quick points, and we shot the lights out. With our depth, we look to wear teams down that only play seven or eight guys."

Despite the offensive explosion, Hyatt still sees room for improvement. "We have been able to run in spurts," he said, "but we need to be more committed to rebounding the ball in order to be a more effective fast-break team."

The Panthers have emerged from their first three games of the season with mixed results and attitudes. While the team knows it could have performed better in the Gordon Tournament and against St. Lawrence, it also understands that it is too early to panic.

"Adversity introduces us to ourselves as a team," said Ehrlich. "We go through it together and become stronger because of it."

As the Panthers know all too well from last season, where they started 7-0 before stumbling to a 12-12 finish and missing the NESCAC tournament, early season success can mean relatively little.

"It's not about where you start - it's about where you finish," Ehrlich said. "We want to finish at the top of the NESCAC."

Middlebury returned to action Tuesday at Castleton State and plays its home opener tonight in the Pepin Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. against Rensselaer, who just beat Williams 64-57 on Nov. 26.