Bball was a slam dunk at home, an air-ball on road

Author: Jeff Klein

After this last weekend, the Middlebury men's basketball team finds itself on a dangerous and familiar road. Faced with two critical NESCAC games at Amherst and Trinity, the Panthers suffered two defeats by scores of 79-73 and 82-67.

While the team still has plenty of NESCAC action left, these losses conjure up memories of last season. Last year's squad entered NESCAC play with a 10-3 record, but struggled mightily the rest of the way, finishing with a 1-8 record against NESCAC opponents. As a result, they missed the playoffs.

But this year's team is not ready to push the panic button yet. "I think once everyone heals from various injuries and sickness, we'll bounce back," said Aaron Smith '09. "We learned a lot this weekend and we know what we have to do to beat the top teams in the NESCAC."

In the game against second-ranked Amherst, the Panthers put forth a valiant effort but fell short in the end. The game featured multiple swings of momentum, as several times the Lord Jeffs would open up a sizeable lead only to have the Panthers battle back. Middlebury got within a single point in the second half, trailing 60-59 with 8:12 remaining, but that was as close as the team would get.

According to Andrew Harris '08, who netted 11 points in the game, "the loss was very disappointing because we had a great opportunity to knock off a highly ranked team."

Harris believes that establishing and maintaining the transition game is crucial if the team wants to take itself to an elite level. "When we get to the point where we can dominate the tempo of a game, so that we force our opponents to match our fast pace style, we will have matured to the point where we can contend for the NESCAC championship," he said. He added that while the team at times had success pushing the tempo against Amherst, "we need to maintain this pace throughout the game in order to beat the best teams in our league."

Still, some players were encouraged by the performance they displayed against such a high-caliber opponent. The fact that the Panthers kept battling back against Amherst and almost pulled off an exceedingly difficult road victory demonstrated the team's confidence in its abilities, according to Evan Thompson '07. Thompson felt that the game could have gone either way.

"It came down to a few plays over the course of the game where if they had gone in our favor, might have produced a different end result to the game," said Thompson.

The following day against Trinity, the Panthers displayed little of the promise they had shown against the Jeffs, as they fell to the Bantams by their second largest margin of the season. Middlebury's sluggish start put them in a 21-7 deficit only eight and a half minutes into the game. Trailing 45-28 at intermission, the Panthers were able to claw their way back in the second half, getting within five at the 3:37 mark, but it proved to be too little too late.

Asked what was most responsible for the team's loss, Smith said, "We were unable to get easy points in transition or get critical stops down the stretch. We dug a big hole for ourselves and although we made a run in the second half, we just did not play our best for 40 minutes."

Ben Ehrlich '09 was blunt when speaking of the team's lackluster, uninspired performance.

"We came out flat against Trinity, with no energy," said Ehrlich. "To say we were exhausted from a close, emotionally draining game the night before is a cop out."

As the season winds down and the stakes grow higher, the Panthers know that they must play their absolute best through the entire duration of each game if they are to have the postseason success they envision for themselves. And, according to Ehrlich, the team's expectations are flying through the roof.