Panthers Fall in OT of NESCAC Semifinals

 

The fourth-ranked men’s basketball team fell for the third time in less than a month, exiting the NESCAC tournament with an 87-80 overtime loss to the seventh-ranked Ephs of Williams on Saturday Feb. 23. The semifinal game was a rematch of a 64-63 Ephs victory in Williamstown, Mass. a month ago.

Middlebury struggled from the floor early as Williams opened the game in man defense, a tactical change from the 2-3 zone Williams employed the last time the teams met. The switch stymied the Panthers, as the team scored on only two of its first eight offensive possessions.

“I thought they were going right to the 2-3 [zone] because it was so effective the first time [we played],” said tri-captain Peter Lynch ’13. “We prepared for that and got the looks we wanted [in practice], but they came out in man right to start and it wasn’t what we were expecting.”

Middlebury trailed early and often, leading for just 1:13 in the first half as back-to-back buckets from sophomore guard Nate Bulluck ’14 gave his team a pair of brief leads midway through the half. Perhaps sensing the danger of an impending Middlebury run, however, the Ephs outscored their Route 7 rivals 16-8 to end the first half, taking a 37-30 into the break.

Ephs forward Daniel Wohl — who was playing in his first game after an illness that sidelined him for nearly a month — scored 11 first-half points to pace Williams, knocking down three of four three-pointers. Center Michael Mayer and sharp-shooting guard James Klemm added nine and eight points, respectively, for Williams as the NESCAC’s second seed shot 52 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc. Middlebury was fortunate to trail by just seven at the break as the team shot just 40.6 percent from the floor and made just two of 10 attempts from beyond the arc.

Tri-captain Peter Lynch ’13 led the way for the Panthers with eight points and six rebounds at the break, while Joey Kizel ’14 had five points. Hunter Merryman ’15 and James Jensen ’14 also pitched in four points apiece of the bench, as the Panther reserves accounted for 12 of the team’s 30 first-half points.

Middlebury re-emerged from the tunnel in the second half with a greater sense of desperation, the team’s mental adjustment at the half sparking an 11-5 run to begin the second period.

“The message at halftime was, ‘This is what we’ve been playing for all year, we need to give it everything we’ve got, because if we lose we’re not playing tomorrow,’” said Lynch. “Coach Brown really got us motivated to come out strong in the second half.”

After a Kizel three-pointer cut the deficit to one, treys from Klemm and point guard Nate Robertson, interrupted by a Jake Wolfin ’13 jumper, extended the Williams lead back to five with 14:30 remaining in the game.

The Panthers responded with a 12-4 burst, bookended by threes from Wolfin and Kizel, propelling them to a four-point lead, their largest of the game, with 10 minutes and change remaining.

The Middlebury lead was short-lived, however, as the Ephs went on a 7-0 blitz coming out of an expedient timeout called by head coach Mike Maker. Taylor Epley, the Ephs’ leading scorer on the season, provided the catalyst for the run with five straight points.

Trailing by three, the Panthers turned to the bruising Lynch, who scored his team’s next six points on three straight possessions, regaining the lead for Middlebury in the process. The game then witnessed six lead changes in less than three minutes as both teams vied unsuccessfully for control of the game.

“I realized that there was a lot of space to attack,” Lynch said. “After the first couple times, [I thought], ‘they have to adjust — there’s no one there.’ But they didn’t.”

With four minutes remaining in regulation, Nolan Thompson ’13 and Woflin missed open looks from beyond the arc on consecutive possessions, snapping a streak of six straight successful offensive possessions for the Panthers.

The Ephs, meanwhile, ran off four straight scores of their own to take a 76-73 lead on an Epley layup with 1:31 remaining.

Coming out of a timeout, the Panthers moved the ball well late in the shot clock, ultimately finding an open look for Wolfin who, despite shooting just 3-13 from the floor up to that point, buried the open look to tie the game at 76 with 58 seconds remaining.

Following a missed layup by the Ephs’ Daniel Wohl, Middlebury had a chance to take the lead, but Robertson picked the pocket of Kizel, as the Panthers’ guard drove to the basket.

“In regulation on that last possession, I had a good look, but I wanted a better look, so I forced it a little bit,” Kizel said. “I thought I had a pull-up long two or a pull-up three, but I saw a lane and thought, ‘maybe I can get to the basket,’ and Robertson made a great play.”

The turnover gave Williams one final chance to win the game, but Robertson momentarily lost his handle on the ball and the Ephs were unable to attempt a final shot before the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.

The overtime period began with a missed three from Wolfin, resulting in a chance to break for Williams. Hoping to start the transition opportunity, Ephs forward John Weinheimer attempted a long outlet pass down the right-hand side of the floor. Anticipating the pass, Kizel intercepted the ball and, while falling out of bands, threw the ball back over his shoulder to a teammate.

“They were pushing the ball hard and I knew he wanted to [throw the ball up court],” Kizel said. “I saw that he was locked in on one guy and I made a quick read and I saw some guys in the backcourt and just threw the ball over my head.”

“He’s just a big game player,” head coach Jeff Brown said. “He wants the ball to make the important play on the offensive end, or hit the important shot. And then defensively, he has a knack for picking his shots. He can make a great contribution, like that steal.”

Despite Kizel’s heroics, Middlebury failed to score on the ensuing offensive possession, and endured a 3:49-long scoring drought over the final minute of regulation and nearly the first three minutes of overtime. Lynch finally put the Panthers on the board in the extra period, pulling down his 11th rebound of the game and scoring his 22nd and 23rd points of the evening to tie the game 78-78 with 2:98 remaining. The two teams traded baskets on their subsequent possessions as Wohl regained the lead for the Ephs with a drive and finish before Kizel deadlocked the game at 80, draining a long jumper.

Williams quickly retook the lead, however, as Jack Roberts ’14 was called for a hold on Mayer, sending Mayer to the line to shoot two free throws, and Roberts to the bench with his fifth and final foul.

Trailing by two, Middlebury had a chance to tie the game with less than a minute to play. Lynch drove the lane, but got caught in the air underneath the basket, attempting to find an open teammate. His pass appeared to hit the padding at the bottom of the backboard after taking a deflection off an Ephs defender. The ball then ricocheted back towards Lynch as he fell out of bounds. In an attempt to ensure his team’s possession, Mayer went after the basketball and attempted to throw it off of Lynch, who was in an out-of-bounds position, before he himself made contact over the end line. The nearest official determined that it was Williams’ ball and, after conferencing as a group, upheld the original call, despite the vehement protests of the Middlebury players and its coaching staff.

The Ephs sealed the game at the free throw line, making seven of 10 free throws in the final 57 seconds to clinch the victory. Middlebury did have one final opportunity to tie the game, but Wolfin’s corner three was off the mark.

Lynch led the way for the Panthers with 23 points on 10-17 shooting and 12 rebounds in what was a career performance in the losing effort.

“Peter was incredible in the paint,” said Brown. “He’s really a handful to guard — his ball quickness, and being able to go both directions off the bounce and his physical play inside really kept us in the game. Every time we needed a bucket, either against their man-to-man or their zone [defense], he produced on the offensive end.”

With the loss Middlebury dropped to seventh in the national rankings, but was awarded a home NCAA tournament game. The Panthers will host Curry College (22-5) on Saturday, March 2. This marks the sixth straight year that coach Brown has led his team to the NCAA tournament, the second longest streak in the country.