Men’s basketball cruises to 12-1

It has already been an eventful 2010 for Middlebury men’s basketball. After setting a school record with a 10-0 start, the team suffered its first loss of the season to Colby-Sawyer last Thursday in Pepin Gymnasium.

After the first half concluded in a 33-33 tie, the second half featured a 17-2 Colby-Sawyer run which proved to be too much, despite a number of late surges by the Panthers.

Nolan Thompson ’13 led Middlebury in the game with 17 points, and co-captain Tim Edwards ’09.5 recorded a game-high 14 rebounds. However, first-year Colby-Sawyer point guard Corey Willis, who was able to overcome his lack of height at 5’7”, hit some clutch free throws to close out the game.

When asked about how the loss would affect the team from this point on, Andrew Locke ’11 seemed optimistic.

“Losing was certainly disappointing but the loss was a good reminder that we have to show up ready to fight every game,” said Locke. “This will be especially true in NESCAC games, where even teams with poorer records are capable of upsetting a great team on a given night.

It sounds counterintuitive, but losing this past week is going to help us moving forward into NESCAC play.”

“Our goal from the outset has been to successfully defend our NESCAC title,” said Locke. “To do this, we need to string together 40 minutes of strong basketball. We are so deep and so talented that if we do this there isn’t a team we can’t beat.”

Although the game could have been a setback, Middlebury refused to acknowledge this possibility, going 2-0 in games at Skidmore and Lyndon State this past weekend.

“We wanted to get back on track before the NESCAC season started,” said Ryan Wholey ’11. “It’s a whole new season when the conference play starts up next weekend.”

The Panthers put Skidmore away 80-67, but the game was never as close as the score indicated. Ryan Sharry ’12 posted a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds and “The Locke-ness Monster” (Locke) had six send-backs as he continued to anchor a Middlebury defense that leads the country in blocked shots.

Less than 24 hours after the Skidmore victory, in the final game before the commencement of the NESCAC schedule, the team further improved its record to 12-1 with a 97-69 blowout win at Lyndon State. Three first-years lead the team in scoring as Jake Wolfin ’13 finished with 16, Thompson accrued 13, and Luis Alvarez ’13 netted 12.

In the upcoming week, the Panthers will begin their quest to repeat as conference champions as they open up their NESCAC schedule with home games Friday and Saturday against Bates and Tufts, respectively. Bates enters the week at 6-5 having already begun their conference play with an overtime loss to Colby.

Tufts will go into the week at 3-7, though its team Web site claims, “Tufts University features one of the strongest men’s basketball traditions in New England.

Including contributors like the 1949-50 team that won 20 games, Tufts has a well-established reputation as one of the top programs in the region.”

It is unclear whether the Panthers will be intimidated during Saturday’s game by the success of the 1949 team, but the possibility certainly provides an excellent story line.

Any in attendance will surely be entertained.