The men’s basketball team fell 76-83 to second seed Amherst last Saturday in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament. It is unlikely that the Polar Bears recieve a bid to the NCAA tournament.
After falling behind in the first 10 minutes, the Polar Bears rallied to tie the game before the end of the first half, and kept the score close until the end. However, they were ultimately unable to come back after Amherst scored some key three-pointers in the last few minutes.
“We still stayed right with [Amherst], competed with them and played a great game, so I was very happy with how we battled, our performance and the way we came out and played,” said Head Coach Tim Gilbride. “Maybe just one play here or there could’ve made the difference in the game, but unfortunately we didn’t end up getting that one play.”
As predicted by the team last week, rebounding was key in keeping the game close. The Polar Bears had a 42-34 edge over Amherst in rebounds, led by senior Matt Palecki, who had nine rebounds on the day. Senior Lucas Hausman led the team in scoring with 29 points in his final game as a Polar Bear. He averaged 25.3 points per game this season, setting a new school record.
With such strong performances, the team is proud of how they played against Amherst, who is not only seeded second in the NESCAC but ranked first in the Division III Northeast region. The Purple & White have put together a consistently strong program as they won the NESCAC Title for three consecutive years before Wesleyan put a stop to their streak in last year’s championship match.
“That’s how you want to finish a season, playing your best and seeing where that takes you and how far it can take you, and it took us to a real close game with one of the better teams in the country,” said Gilbride. “I think everybody feels good about that. But our guys are such good competitors, especially our senior group, that when you’re that close, you want to win the game.”
While the loss is disappointing, the team was able to finish their season with a winning record of 12-11. Much of the team’s success in the back half of the season came from players rising to meet the demands of the team, which continued in the quarterfinal matchup.
“Our underclassmen really stepped up, especially the freshman class. They showed a lot of grit and determination when it came to the Amherst game,” said Blake Gordon ‘18. “Our senior captain [Jake Donnelly] was injured for the Amherst game so a first year [Tim Ahn] started who played tremendously well during the game, and I think that will translate to next year.”
With this season’s strong finish, the underclassmen on the team will carry a lot of experience and confidence into next year. The current first years are expected to continue their critical role on the team next season, especially after Jack Simonds ’19 ended up as the team’s second leading scorer this season. However, the program will also have to make up for the loss of the three graduating seniors.
“Lucas Hausman, Matt Palecki and Jake Donnelly have really done a good job of bringing this whole group together,” said Gilbride. “Our team’s really shown a lot of progress, especially right here at the end of the season in terms of playing very well together, and that really happens and can only happen if you get great leadership and our three senior captains have been great with that.”
The senior class has provided the team with not only strong leadership off the court, but also immense skill and talent on the court. All three seniors were consistent starters for the team both this season and last season. Palecki led the team this season in rebounds per game with 6.9, while Donnelly led in assists per game with 3.4. After being named NESCAC Player of the Year last year, Hausman continued his strong trajectory and surpassed the 1,000 career points milestone this season, finishing his Bowdoin career with 1,482 points, which ranks seventh in school history.
“In Lucas, we’re losing one of the best scorers in the history of Bowdoin College basketball, so that won’t be easy to replace,” said Gilbride. “We’ll miss all three, but I think we have a real nice nucleus to build with, a nice collection of guys that will be returning and hopefully some other new players to add to the mix, so we’re really looking forward to next year.”
“Ending this season the way that we did, with three big wins at home and then going to Amherst and fighting them close the whole game, I think that transitions into next year knowing that we can compete with any team in the NESCAC,” said Gordon. “We have the right players, we have the right attitude, we just need to show that we can prove that throughout the whole season.”