Bench helps men clinch third seed in NESCAC tourney

Author: Jeff Klein

The Middlebury men's basketball team made history this weekend - and is now hoping to carry that momentum over to the postseason.

In two highly contrasting yet similarly exciting contests, the Panthers eked out a 75-71 win over Wesleyan in Pepin Gymnasium Friday night, Feb. 15, before dropping an offensive shootout 93-86 against Connecticut College Saturday afternoon. With the split, Middlebury ended its regular season having accomplished two historic feats: its 18 wins mark a school record for a season and its third seed for the upcoming NESCAC tournament is the team's highest ever.

The Panthers take on rival Williams College next Saturday at the Pepin Palace in a quarterfinal match-up. But before the Panthers start thinking about the playoffs, they must revisit this past weekend's action and try to correct some mistakes.

"The team will definitely need to improve on its intensity in the playoffs," said Aaron Smith '09, who averaged 19.0 points over the weekend.

Against the Camels of Connecticut College on Saturday, that intensity seemed to be sorely lacking for parts of the game. The game was tight at the beginning, as the first half featured nine ties, but Conn. College ended the half on a 9-0 run to take a 37-29 lead into intermission.

The break could do nothing to squelch the Camels momentum, as they started the second half on fire. Hitting nine of its first 10 shots, Conn. College put together a 21-4 run, which amounted to an imposing 60-35 advantage at the 14:02 mark. Middlebury at times looked sluggish on defense during the run, allowing uncontested threes and an assortment of layups.

Not to be deterred, the Panthers showed why they are such a dangerous team, as they too caught fire in the second half. Sparked by the lights-out shooting of co-captain Andrew Harris '08, the Panthers went on a quick 8-0 run, turning a 65-44 deficit into a much more respectable 13-point margin. The Camels again extended the lead and again the Panthers responded, going on another 8-0 run to narrow the lead to 10 points with 3:32 remaining.

Yet, in the end, Conn. College's sizeable advantage turned out to be too big, as Middlebury could not get over the Camels' hump. The Camels shot an astounding 82 percent from the floor in the second half.

A night earlier against Wesleyan, however, Middlebury earned a victory with tight defensive pressure and timely shooting. Holding a 17-15 advantage at the 10:03 mark, the Panthers orchestrated a 12-2 run over the next 4:15 for a 29-17 lead. The Cardinals put together a run of their own, outscoring Middlebury 5-0 over the final 47 seconds of the first half to close the gap to 33-29 at intermission.

Wesleyan cut the lead to one in the second half, but could never seize the lead as Middlebury went on an 8-0 run for a 46-37 advantage at the 13:51 mark. After a Wesleyan basket cut Middlebury's lead to two with 6:13, the Panthers regained a comfortable nine-point lead with 3:54 remaining, forcing the Cardinals to start fouling.

Smith was a huge factor down low throughout the game, regularly getting excellent position inside for easy baskets. He attributes his strong performance, both against Wesleyan and throughout the season, to "working really hard in the off-season on my body, increasing my strength and endurance. I believe my post game has greatly improved because of that."

While the Panthers were able to pull out the four-point victory, they made the game far closer than it had to be, with just 23-of-39 shooting from the free-throw line. The Panthers will have to improve that component of their game to make a serious run in the postseason.

Asked to assess the team's state and areas for improvement heading into the playoffs, Harris pointed to the necessity of sustaining a strong defensive performance.

"We need to improve our consistency on defense," he said. "There are games where the shots don't seem to fall, but our defensive effort should always be there. Good team defense has been our staple this season, and if we play defense at a high level throughout the game, we're a hard team to beat."

"We are very tough to beat when everyone is active on defense," said Smith. "This has been a great year and we don't want it to end anytime soon."