Men's Basketball Championship Seeding Announced

Defending Champ Williams Takes Top Seed on Final Day of Season

HADLEY, Mass. – For the second year in a row, Williams College finished the league slate a perfect 9-0 and will have number-one seed in the 2011 edition of the NESCAC Men's Basketball Championship. The defending conference champion Ephs claimed the top spot in the NESCAC standings on the final day of the regular season with a hard-fought, 74-70 win against rival Amherst in Williamstown.

Williams will be one of quarterfinal hosts on Saturday, Feb. 19, and if the Ephs advance they will also host the semifinals and championship on Feb. 26-27. Ticket information for the quarterfinals shall be released by the hosts in the upcoming week.

Amherst, Middlebury, and Williams all entered the final weekend of the regular season with a shot at winning the number-one seed in this year's championship. The Lord Jeffs had to travel to face the Panthers on Friday before meeting the Ephs on Saturday, and the matchups all lived up to their billing. When the final horn sounded on Saturday, Williams (23-1, 9-0 NESCAC) emerged unscathed in conference play and atop the NESCAC standings. The Ephs defended their home court and avenged a 92-89 overtime setback to the Jeffs on Jan. 8 - their only loss so far this season - by winning a back-and-forth affair 74-70 as junior James Wang (Sydney, Australia) scored a career-high 33 points on 13-of-21 shooting (.619). The league's top offense will begin its quest for a fifth conference crown next Saturday when eighth-seeded Bowdoin (14-9, 3-6 NESCAC) comes to Williamstown in what will be the first tournament meeting between the two. The Polar Bears were in danger of failing to qualify for this year's tournament heading into Saturday, as Friday's 62-60 setback at Connecticut College meant that Saturday's match at Wesleyan would be a winner-take-all contest for the final spot. Bowdoin held a 16-point advantage with 6:53 to play but watched as the Cardinals whittled it away, yet still managed to hang on for a 72-71 victory. The Ephs took the lone regular season match back on Feb. 4 by an 85-66 score.

After vanquishing Amherst on Friday evening, 69-61, second-seeded Middlebury (20-1, 8-1 NESCAC) needed a win combined with a Williams loss in order to contend for the number-one seed. The Panthers, though, first needed to get past a pesky Trinity squad on Saturday afternoon if they wanted a chance at the top spot. The two teams battled to the wire before Middlebury finally bested Trinity 57-56, as all five conference contests on Saturday were decided by six points or less. The only blemish on the Panthers' schedule this season came against their travel partner on Jan. 29, a 69-64 setback at Williams. The 2009 NESCAC Men's Basketball Champions will look to return to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year when they take on seventh-seeded Connecticut College (12-12, 3-6 NESCAC). After missing out on last year's NESCAC tournament, the Camels put themselves into this year's field on Friday night with the aforementioned 62-60 win over Bowdoin. Connecticut College could have finished as high as fifth, its best showing since 2002, with another win on Saturday, however the Camels came up short to Colby, 59-53. Middlebury rolled to an 80-52 victory when Connecticut College came to town back on Jan. 22, and the Panthers took the only meeting between the two in tournament history en route to their 2009 conference crown, 78-62. Before these two clash, Middlebury will take to the court to face Hamilton on Monday and Green Mountain on Thursday.

All Amherst (21-2, 7-2 NESCAC) needed to do in order to garner the number-one seed in the NESCAC championship for the first time since 2008 was go on the road and earn back-to-back victories over two teams with a combined 39-2 record - no small feat. The Lord Jeffs came up short in both outings though and were relegated to third in the standings. A year ago, Amherst missed out on the semifinals for the first time ever, falling at Colby in the first round. This season, the Jeffs strung up 21 consecutive victories, the second-longest streak in program history, and are determined to return to the top of the conference mountain. Amherst's four titles match Williams for the most in the league, yet its last NESCAC crown came in 2006. The Jeffs will look to snap their two-game winless streak in the quarterfinals against sixth-seeded Bates (12-12, 3-6 NESCAC). Just over a week ago, the Bobcats stood at 3-3 in league play and looked primed to secure a home quarterfinal contest of their own, however three straight losses to finish out the conference slate, including a 66-62 setback at Tufts on Saturday, put them on the road. Although Bates finished in a three-way tie with Bowdoin and Connecticut College for sixth, the Bobcats had the head-to-head advantage over both teams. Amherst holds a 3-0 record over Bates in the lifetime tournament series with all three meetings coming between 2005-07, however many fans will recall how close those matches really were. It was no different last weekend when the two met in Amherst for the only meeting of the year and the Jeffs came out on top in that contest also, 74-68.

While fourth-seeded Trinity (13-11, 4-5 NESCAC) knew following last Saturday's 66-61 victory over Tufts that it would be hosting a home quarterfinal contest, the Bantams might not have figured it would be seeing the fifth-seeded Jumbos (13-11, 4-5 NESCAC) again so soon. Trinity's 86-60 loss at Williams on Friday night meant that it could no longer catch Middlebury in the standings, therefore the Bantams received the fourth seed. Even with its playoff fate decided, Trinity gave the Panthers everything they could handle in Saturday's regular season finale, falling 57-56. Tufts had its hands full at home against Bates on Saturday afternoon, the Jumbos' lone league game of the weekend, but managed to post a 66-62 victory over the Bobcats. The win combined with Connecticut College's loss to Colby gave Tufts the fifth seed in this year's tournament. The matchup will be a first of sorts for both teams. It's the first postseason appearance for the Jumbos since 2007, and the Bantams are at home in the quarterfinals for the first time since they won their first NESCAC title in 2008. The tournament series is even at one-all between the two. Trinity took the first round meeting in 2005, while Tufts claimed the next showdown in overtime of the 2006 semifinals en route to their only championship game appearance.

2011 NESCAC MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Saturday, Feb. 19 at Higher Seeds
No. 7 Connecticut College at No. 2 Middlebury - 1:00 p.m.
No. 8 Bowdoin at No. 1 Williams - 2:00 p.m.
No. 6 Bates at No. 3 Amherst - 2:00 p.m.
No. 5 Tufts at No. 4 Trinity - 3:00 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, February 26 at Highest Remaining Seed
Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed - 2:00 p.m.
Remaining first round winners - 4:00 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, February 27
Semifinal winners - 12:00 p.m.