While most of their peers were enjoying a restful winter break, the men’s basketball team got down to business over the holidays. After starting their season on a strong note, winning their first five pre-season games, the Jeffs looked to be in a good place heading into the start of the regular season.
After beginning their 2012-2013 season with three wins in as many games, the men’s basketball team looked to build on that strong start this past week.
With three more games on the schedule, including their first two road contests of the season, remaining undefeated would prove to be a tough task. The Jeffs did manage to snag two more victories, pushing their winning-streak to five games, but unfortunately, lost their final game of the week, their first blemish of the young season.
While most Amherst students enjoyed some downtime last week, the men’s basketball team did just the opposite, as their 2012-2013 season got off to a quick start with three games over the break.
Coming off an impressive, 26-win campaign last year, the defending league champion Jeffs are looking to build on that success this season.
In front of a packed Homecoming crowd at Pratt Field, the Lord Jeffs finished their season with a victory over archrival Williams this past Saturday. Led by a solid performance from sophomore quarterback Max Lippe, Amherst mounted a thrilling fourth quarter comeback to squeeze out the 23-20 win and send alumni home happy. Amherst has now won three of the last four contests against their archrivals, though the overall head-to-head record still lies in favors of the Ephs, 71-51-3.
With their second loss of the season last Saturday, the Lord Jeffs’ NESCAC title hopes came to a disappointing end at the hands of the Trinity Bantams. The Bantams were the only remaining undefeated team in the NESCAC and a loss would have dropped them into a tie with Amherst and Middlebury for the best record in the conference. With one week to play, all three teams would have likely won-out and earned a three-way split of the NESCAC title. Unfortunately for the Jeffs, Trinity proved too tough in the second half and ran away with their nation-leading 47th consecutive home victory.
Behind a stellar all-around effort, the Lord Jeffs put together their most dominant performance of the season last Saturday, blowing by Tufts for a 51-7 victory. Playing in front of parents and siblings for Family Weekend, Amherst had extra incentive to play well, which certainly went a long ways. The Jeffs got on the board early and never looked back, running away with the easy victory.
Needing a victory to stay in the hunt for the NESCAC Championship, the Lord Jeffs faced a tough challenge at Wesleyan on Saturday, Oct. 20. Two weeks ago, the Amherst team suffered its first loss of the season, a demoralizing 24-3 setback at the hands of Middlebury. Now, the squad knew it would have to win out to catch Williams and Trinity atop the conference standings, and the tough road ahead was to begin in Middletown, Conn.
