Locke ’11 blocks his way to weekend smackdown

Middlebury men’s basketball opened up NESCAC play last weekend in typically dominant fashion, topping both Bates and Tufts in back-to-back home games this week to improve to 14-1 on the season.

The Panthers remain ranked in the top 10 in the country for Division III programs, but will face a much tougher schedule in the second half of the season. The team hopes to build upon its 2-0 start in NESCAC play in upcoming contests against league opponents.

“The start is a good one,” noted co-captain Tim Edwards ’09.5. “It feels good to come away from a NESCAC weekend with two wins,” he said.

On Friday, the Panthers were led by Edwards, Andrew Locke ’11 and Jake Wolfin ’13 against Bates in Middlebury’s NESCAC opener. Both teams struggled with shooting in the first half, with Middlebury building a seven-point lead mostly from the free throw line.

However, the Panthers found a rhythm after the break, shooting 66.7 percent for the second half. After Bates made an early 10-2 run to start the half, Middlebury countered with a 20-9 run to maintain an eight- to 10-point lead throughout, finally triumphing, 71-62.

Locke posted a career-high 25 points and nine rebounds in an unstoppable performance against the physically outmatched Bobcat front line.

Locke and fellow big men Jamal Davis ’11 and Ryan Sharry ’12 proved simply too long, tall and athletic against a shorter Bates team, whose tallest starter is listed at just 6’7”.

Middlebury recorded 14 blocks on the game — including 7 by Locke, tying a career high — compared to just one by Bates. Davis, Sharry and Edwards each blocked two shots.

Edwards ran the offense smoothly for Middlebury, dishing out nine assists to go along with eight points. Wolfin drilled three three-pointers en route to 10 points.

Middlebury’s defense once again set the tone for the game, as it held the Bobcats to 35.8 percent shooting on just 10 team assists. The Panthers also stole the ball nine times, led by Edwards with three.

Middlebury continued the weekend with an excellent peformance against Tufts last Saturday. The Jumbos struggled against Middlebury’s defensive pressure, shooting an abysmal 25.7 percent on the game, including just 2-for-17 from three-point range. The Panthers forced Tufts into 13 turnovers and clogged up passing and driving lanes, suffocating ball movement and limiting the Jumbos to just seven assists.

Ryan Wholey ’11 scored eight of his 10 points during a 17-2 Middlebury run early in the game. Middlebury maintained a double-digit lead until Tufts came out strong after intermission, cutting the lead to five. However, Middlebury responded with another big 11-2 spurt, this time led by Ryan Sharry’s seven points.

The Jumbos tried to recover a lead through long-distance shooting, but could not connect. Despite crushing the Panthers on the boards 57-40, Tufts could not execute effectively on offense and Middlebury pulled out a 66-53 victory.

Sharry had a game-high 16 points to go along with a team-best nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Wolfin followed Friday’s three-point shooting performance with three more triples against Tufts, scoring 15 points and dishing out a game-high six assists. Nolan Thompson ’13 added 10 points for Middlebury, while Locke manned the paint and contributed six blocked shots.

“I thought that we played great team defense in order to grind out those two wins,” said Edwards.

The Panthers continue NESCAC play next week at Connecticut College, and have two more away games before hosting Williams on Jan. 30.

“We are off to a good start but still have a long way to go with big two big games on the road this weekend in Connecticut,” said Edwards.

“This is a growing process and we look to get better each week in an attempt to host the NESCAC championship again.”