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Amherst Tops Ursinus, Eyes Second Title
Olson Keys Jeffs onto Championship Game
SALEM, Va. --- Andrew Olson recorded a triple-double in the first national semifinal on Friday evening, spurring Amherst College to an 84-58 victory over Ursinus College for a chance to win its second consecutive NCAA Division III men’s basketball national championship. The Lord Jeffs (27-3) move on to face the winner of Hope College and Washington University in St. Louis in the national championship game on Saturday afternoon in Salem. The Bears (29-3) will play for third place in the national consolation game also on Saturday afternoon.
“Since we left you last year, this has been our goal,” explained Amherst head coach Dave Hixon. “We have a bunch of seniors, as you saw tonight, and this is all that they felt they were going to settle for.”
Olson scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the second half as the Jeffs turned an 11-point halftime advantage into a 26-point runaway victory. Olson, who hit 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, added 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple-double of the season.
“To be honest, I don’t think I have had a triple-double in my career,” said Olson. “I was a little shocked.”
Three other Amherst starters found double-figures with Fletcher Walters picking up 18 points to go with eight boards. Brian Baskauskas added 17 points and six rebounds while Brandon Jones chipped in 11 markers including three makes from downtown. The Lord Jeffs out-rebounded Ursinus 46-35 including 17 caroms via the offensive glass.
The Amherst defense forced 20 Ursinus turnovers and held the Bears to 39.3-percenter shooting from the field. The Bears made only 3-of-12 shots from three-point range, and standout Nick Shattuck was held in check as he connected on only three of his 16 field goal attempts.
John Noonan led three Bears in double digits with 18 points. Michael Shema notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Shattuck gathered 10 points and three blocked shots.
“Amherst plays a different defense than we’ve really seen all year,” stated Noonan. “We’ve seen defenses like it, but they seem to switch at almost random times.”
Both neither team wanted to take control in the early going as Amherst commanded a two or four-point lead through first nine minutes of action. A three-pointer by Jones and a couple of foul shots by Olson helped the Jeffs pull out to an 11-point margin at the 8:30 mark.
Shattuck notched seven points within the final eight minutes to keep Ursinus within striking distance, Amherst maintained its mettle and matched the Bears shot for shot to go into the break with a 42-31 lead.
Amherst came out of the intermission with a flurry as the Jeffs dominated the first eight minutes with a 24-10 run that saw their lead climb to 69-41 with 12:05 to play. Amherst’s advantage reached a high of 35 points with 4:54 to play.
Both Ursinus and Amherst will learn of their Saturday opponents following the second semifinal contest between Hope and Washington-St. Louis. Ursinus will meet the loser of that contest in the third place match at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 22. Amherst will square off with the winner in the national championship game at 4:00 p.m.
“Obviously we were playing against a terrific team and we knew what we were up against,” said Ursinus head coach Kevin Small. “Our kids are disappointed because at the end of the day, we didn’t play quite as well as we’ve been playing.”
Live video of the third place game can be viewed by either visiting www.ncaa.com or the championship website at www.odaconline.com/hoopchamp. The national championship game will be carried live on television by CSTV.
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