Courtesy Amherst Sports Information

Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. - Fourth-seeded Bowdoin College held on for a 65-64 victory over top-seeded Amherst Saturday evening in the first semifinal of the 2008 NESCAC Men's Basketball Championship. The Polar Bears advance to Sunday's championship game for the first time in program history, and will face the winner of the Trinity/Middlebury semifinal at 2:30 p.m.

After Bowdoin started the game on a 5-3 run, Amherst seniors Andrew Olson (San Diego, Calif.) and Kevin Hopkins (Greenfield Center, N.Y.) had back-to-back buckets to put the Lord Jeffs up 6-5. The two sides traded baskets over the next five minutes, until Olson drained another deep three to put Amherst up 13-11 with twelve minutes to play.

With nine minutes to play, Amherst senior Brandon Jones (Hopatcong, N.J.) broke a 15-15 tie with a put-back dunk off a missed Olson three. After Bowdoin answered, Olson found classmate Matt Goldsmith (Morristown, N.J.) on a backdoor cut for an easy lay in.

Bowdoin went step-for-step with Amherst, getting lay-ups by sophomore Mark Phillips (Ashland, Mass.). Each time the Polar Bears tied the game, Amherst responded with a lay-up off an Olson feed. Amherst took advantage of a Bowdoin miss with a three from sophomore Steven Wheeler (Bloomington, Minn.). The triple put Amherst up 24-19 with 6:30 to go in the half.

The Polar Bears responded with an 8-0 run, including a pair three pointers by junior Kyle Jackson (Acton, Mass.) and senior Andrew Hippert (Worcester, Mass.). Bowdoin stretched its lead as large as seven points at 34-27, but Jones responded with a three ball for the Lord Jeffs.

As the half closed, Bowdoin held a 36-30 lead, riding 10 first-half points from Jackson and 8 points from Phillips. Amherst was paced by a diverse attack as Olson, Wheeler, Hopkins and Jones scored at least five points apiece. Bowdoin out-rebounded Amherst 20-10 in the first half.

Bowdoin started the second half on a 6-0 run, stretching their lead to a dozen, and forcing Amherst head coach David Hixon to call a timeout. Amherst pressed to try and cut into Bowdoin lead, but with just 12 minutes to play, the Jeffs still trailed 50-36. The Jeffs caught a break when Jones was fouled in the act but flipped up a shot that fell. The free throw capped an impressive three-point play to close the gap to 50-39.

Amherst senior Fletcher Walters (Ann Arbor, Mich.) brought a packed house to with a thunderous block against the corner of the backboard. On the ensuing possession, Walters flipped in a mid-range runner to bring Amherst within single digits.

With just 7:48 to play in the second half, Amherst called another timeout, still trailing 56-45, despite a number of impressive plays to try and cut into the gap. The Polar Bear lead was closed to eight points at 58-50 on a pair of free throws by junior Brian Baskauskas (Palo Alto, Calif.). After consecutive stops by Amherst, Wheeler sent the stands into a frenzy with a deep three ball to cut the lead to just five points. Bowdoin called a timeout with 4:35 remaining after a hard foul was whistled to send Olson to the line. The 2007 NESCAC Player of the Year hit both shots to close the margin to 58-55.

Bowdoin had another shot turned away by Walters, only to set up a fourth three pointer by Wheeler, this time to tie the game at 58-58. Jackson responded for Bowdoin with a three ball of his own on the following trip.

A pair of free throws from Phillips put the Polar Bears back up by four, only to have Baskauskas cut the lead in half with a silky turnaround jumper. On the next trip, Baskauskas nailed a three from the left corner to give Amherst a 64-63 lead. The lead was the first for the Lord Jeffs since 5:42 was remaining in the first half.

Amherst forced the Polar Bears into a shot clock violation to get the ball back, this time with a chance to extend the lead. A turnover by Olson led to a breakaway lay-up by Bowdoin’s Jordan Fliegel (Cambridge, Mass.). With the Jeffs trailing 65-64, Baskauskas missed a runner on the baseline.

With less than half a minute to play, the Jeffs were forced to foul. After a Bowdoin miss, and an offensive rebound, Andrew Sargeantson (New Canaan, Conn.) was fouled. He missed the front end of the one-and-one, giving the Jeffs the ball back. Olson dribbled in front of his own bench and called a timeout with 5.4 seconds to go.

mherst designed a play to create the potentially game-winning shot, down one point, 65-64. Goldsmith took the inbound, playing the ball in to Olson after a number of Amherst players were tightly covered. Olson was left to pull up for a deep three to win, a shot that rimmed out.