Advance Ticket Sale for Saturday's men's games
Lasell Gym lobby accessed from Spring Street
Thurs. (2/21) & Fri. (2/22) -- 10AM – 2:00 PM
Tickets: $5 Adults; $2 Students
Video – CLICK HERE
Live Stats – Click HERE
Mike Maker's Williams men's basketball team (22-3) will face Middlebury College (22-2) at 3:00 PM in the second half of the NESCAC Tournament Semifinals LeFrak Gymnasium at Amherst College.
Prior to the Williams-Middlebury showdown host Amherst (23-2) will square off vs. Tufts (17-8) at 1:00 PM.
Saturday's winners will advance to the NESCAC championship game to be played in LeFrak Gymnasium on Sunday at 12:00 PM. Sunday's winner will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Host Amherst is in search of a sixth NESCAC title, while Williams is seeking its fifth, Middlebury is trying to win a third and Tufts is looking for its first NESCAC crown.
The Ephs got past the first round with an 88-79 victory over seventh seeded Bates. Senior guard James Klemm led all scorers with 20 points, while junior center Michael Mayer recorded a double-double on 14 points and 10 boards.
Junior forward Taylor Epley has been the Ephs' go-to player on the offensive end, scoring 18.1 points per game behind 63 three-pointers. Mayer has averaged 17.2 points and 8.6 rebounds. Meanwhile, senior guard Nate Robertson (Ann Arbor, Mich.) leads the team with 112 assists and the conference with 49 steals. Williams will be looking for its fourth NESCAC title and first since 2010. They lead the league in field goal percentage (50.4%) and field goal percentage defense (37.4%).
Middlebury will be looking for its fifth straight trip to the title game after its 61-49 win over sixth seeded Wesleyan on Saturday. Junior guard Joey Kizel came up with 20 points in the game, while senior Jake Wolfin, Peter Lynch and Nolan Thompson netted 12 apiece.
Lynch has converted a league-best 64.7% of his shots this season en route to 15.1 points per game. The Panthers have also received a boost from Kizel, who has averaged 13.7 points. Thompson has netted 51 treys en route to 12.8 points per game, and Wolfin has dished out 112 assists. Middlebury's two losses have come by a combined four points, including a 64-63 setback at Williams on January 26.
2013 NESCAC Men's Basketball Championship
Quarterfinals – Saturday, February 16 (at Higher Seeds)
#1 Amherst def. #8 Colby, 83-52
#2 Williams def. #7 Bates, 88-79
#3 Middlebury def. #6 Wesleyan, 61-49
#4 Tufts def. #5 Bowdoin, 82-71
Semifinals – Saturday, February 23 (at Amherst)
#4 Tufts at #1 Amherst - 1:00 pm
#3 Middlebury vs. #2 Williams - 3:00 pm
Championship – Sunday, February 24 (at Amherst)
Semifinal Winners – 12:00 pm
