Sports
Lord Jeffs outshoot Continentals in battle
By Steve LaRochelle, Sports Staff Writer
February 23, 2012
Ending the season with a loss is never fun.
But sometimes, you have to put things in perspective. Two weeks ago, the Hamilton men’s basketball team was 1-5 in the NESCAC, and their postseason prospects looked bleak. Against all odds, they proceeded to win three out of four conference games, earning a spot in the quarterfinals of their first ever NESCAC tournament.
“Our defense improved considerably during the last two weeks of the season,” Coach Adam Stockwell explained. “Our guys really stepped up in these games.”
Unfortunately, as the final team to qualify for the tournament, Hamilton drew Amherst. With their 20-point dismantling of the Continentals on Saturday, the second nationally ranked Lord Jeffs have now won 23 out of their last 25 games, including 11 straight in the NESCAC.
Hamilton certainly entered the game with momentum, but Amherst stepped on to their home court with quite a bit more.
Supported by the loud, boisterous and shameless Hamilton “Dog Pound” that went so far as to chant “safety school” towards the Amherst players on their own home court, the Continentals started the game with an impressive shooting spree, trading baskets with the Lord Jeffs at a torrid pace. With 4:30 remaining in the first half, the Continentals were only down by three points.
Then, the Continentals started to run out of gas. Thanks to Amherst’s overbearing defense, tenacious rebounding and impeccable shooting, the Lord Jeffs went on a 9-2 run to confidently head into the locker room with an eight point halftime lead.
In the first three minutes of the second half, Amherst proceeded to open up a commanding 15-point lead and they never looked back. They won by a final score of 86-66.
One bright spot for Hamilton was the 27 point, 13 rebound performance of Pat Sullivan ’12 in what proved to be his final game in a Continental uniform. Sullivan finished his career ninth among Hamilton’s all-time leading scorers. There is no doubt that his absence will create a great void in productivity and leadership that the Continentals will need to fill next season.
“The biggest area we need to improve is offensively in the short term, especially losing two very good scorers like Pat Sullivan and Ephraim McDowell,” Coach Stockwell, who posted a 15-10 record in his first year at the helm of the Hamilton program, explained. “Overall, we need to continue to develop physically to become better defensively and on the backboards.”
Rebounding will be a key issue for Hamilton next season, especially considering that Sullivan accounted for 13 of the Continentals’ 28 rebounds on Saturday.
But even in the absence of a special player like Sullivan, who will likely be selected as an All-NESCAC performer, the Continentals have a lot to look forward to next year with a strong core of returning players.
“We are very excited about next season,” Stockwell added. “All of our returning players have a strong understanding of the work ethic, commitment and intensity needed to be successful in the NESCAC.”
Stockwell believes that the long offseason will provide a great opportunity for his team to improve in preparation for a highly successful 2012-2013 campaign.
“We have eight months to work with a picture of where we want to be come next winter. Our junior class of Hans Schulte, Eric Benvenuti and Ken Click is very motivated to leave their mark on the NESCAC and will make sure that our entire roster is working to reach lofty goals in league play.”