Third Time in Salem a Charm for Lord Jeffs
SALEM, Va. --- Amherst College made the most of
its third trip in the last four years to Salem, Virginia, as the
Lord Jeffs defeated Virginia Wesleyan College, 80-67, to claim the
school's first NCAA Division III Men's Basketball title.
Amherst finishes the season with a 30-2 record while Virginia
Wesleyan, the 2006 national champion, ends its campaign with a 28-5
mark and the national runner-up trophy.
"It's wonderful to be national champs," explained Amherst head
coach Dave Hixon. "It's a big deal to be here twice. We
have played in the consolation game. I have seen film clips
and they don't say Amherst has been there two years... they just
say we haven't won a game. Now, we have won two games.
It is a big deal to get that banner."
Andrew Olson, named the championship series Most Outstanding
Player, led five Jeffs in double figures with 15 points to go with
five assists. Olson was also named to the
D3hoops.com All-America First Team. Brian Baskauskas
added 14 points and six boards while Dan Wheeler put up 13 markers
and seven rebounds. Tim McLaughlin and Kevin Hopkins each
added 12 points and five rebounds to Amherst's effort.
Ton Ton Balenga shook off a rough semifinal victory to lead
Virginia Wesleyan with 19 points including 7-of-7 from the
line. Brandon Adair, named to the all-championship series
team and the D3hoops.com All-America Second Team, was the
only other Marlin in double figured with 17 points to go with five
boards in a full 40 minutes of play.
Amherst duplicated its effort from the night before by jumping on
top of the Marlins early in the first half. Wheeler's
three-pointer with 14:58 on the clock gave the Jeffs an eight-point
at 12-4.
"We have been notorious for starting slowly, so this week has been
a surprise to the fans," said Amherst's Olson. "Those quick
starts have been a big boost of confidence."
Virginia Wesleyan did its best to minimize the momentum, quickly
pulling to within one at 12-11 following a jumper by Adair with
13:10 on the scoreboard. Amherst responded just as swiftly,
pushing back out to an eight-point edge after a pair of free throws
by Hopkins at 19-11.
The Jeffs' enjoyed their first double-digit lead at the 6:27 mark
following two free tosses by Olson. The margin hovered around
the 10-point for the next several minutes until Olson canned his
second trey of the game to give Amherst a 13 point advantage at
35-22 with 1:58 to go in the half. Baskauskas capped the
stanza's scoring with a jumper to send the teams into the locker
rooms with the Jeffs ahead 39-28.
Neither squad could gain the upper hand at the outset of the second
half. The scoring difference again maintained in the area of
10 points until Wheeler hit a jumper at the 14:51 mark that started
the Jeffs on a 10-2 run that saw Amherst's lead increase to 59-40
with 10:52 to play.
Amherst enjoyed a 20-point lead on three separate occasions, with
the latter coming at the 7:28 mark, but the Marlins showed their
championship resolve over the next few minutes. Terrell Dixon
hit a three and Stephen Fields made the back-end of two free throws
to pull VWC within 16 at 68-52, and Balenga followed with five more
charity tosses to bring the Marlins within striking distance at
68-57 with 4:16 to play.
Dixon followed a 1-of-2 effort from the line by the Jeffs' Brandon
Jones with a pair of his own free throw makes to pull the Marlins'
within 10 at the 3:20 mark, but Amherst regrouped with a jumper by
Baskauskas and two from the line by Jones to go up 73-59 with 2:21
to play.
The Marlins pulled within 10 two more times down the stretch, but
couldn't get any closer as the Jeffs hit 5-of-6 foul shots within
the final minute of play to secure their first national title.
"All I can say is that Amherst played great," explain Virginia
Wesleyan head coach Dave Macedo. "They deserved it."
2007 NCAA Division III All-Championship Series Team
Amherst College - Andrew Olson (Most Outstanding
Player)
Amherst College - Tim McLaughlin
Virginia Wesleyan College - Brandon Adair
Washington University - Sean Wallis
College of Wooster - Tim Vandervaart