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Volume CXXXIII, Number 13 |
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Bears pick up the pace on the court
MARIO LOPEZ
STAFF WRITER
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| Kyle Petrie (#4) '06 and Mark Yakavonis (#33) '05 put the pressure on Williams, who ended up besting Bowdoin 82-67. The Bears play at home this weekend, taking on Tufts tonight at 7:00 p.m. (Hans Law, Bowdoin Orient) |
After splitting victories in last weekend's games, the Bowdoin Men's Basketball Team is now 12-8, and has reached the 500 mark in the NESCAC with a record of 3-3. They lost to defending national champions Williams College and defeated Middlebury College.
Bowdoin played their best game of basketball against the Ephs of Williams. The Polar Bears rose to the level of competition and athleticism that the second-ranked Ephs brought to Brunswick. The competition started out close and was extremely intense. Bowdoin trailed 20-10 after five minutes of play but went on a run that brought them within a basket with approximately ten minutes remaining in the half. The Ephs made their own run and would end the first half ahead, 46-33.
Williams returned from the break to score 13 points in seven minutes and extend their lead to 14. Bowdoin seemed to be letting down but was rejuvenated by the support of their most dedicated basketball fans, Polar Bear Nation. The Polar Bears would demonstrate their appreciation by going on a 10-3 run. A crowd favorite, Kyle Petrie '06, cut the lead to single digits with a fade-away baseline jumper with less than four minutes remaining. The score was now 68-63 and would get no closer for Bowdoin.
The Ephs continued to drop three-point bombs and shot an impressive 50 percent from beyond the arch. Williams finished the contest connecting on ten of 14 free-throws down the stretch to end the game with a final score of 82-67. Petrie finished with 22 points in the losing effort and was followed by T.J. McLeod '04 who scored 15 and Kevin Bradley '07 who had ten.
Bowdoin recovered from Friday evening's valiant effort and went on to defeat the Middlebury Panthers that Saturday. Bowdoin won this contest by a score of 72-48.
Defense was the determining factor in this competition for the Polar Bears. They kept the Panthers to a mere 28 percent shooting and forced 16 turnovers. Bowdoin also out-rebounded Middlebury 52-41.
The Polar Bears took a slow start coming into the matchup, allowing the Panthers to maintain a tied game in the first ten minutes of play. The pace would quicken for both teams but Bowdoin would lead 31-21 at the break.
A sudden turn of events in the second half brought the Polar Bears lead to only six points with just eight minutes remaining. Bowdoin went on a much needed run during these finals minutes to pull off the victory. The final score would mark Bowdoin's largest lead of the contest.
Petrie and McLeod both had 14 points and three assists. Identical statistics were also recorded by Mark Yakavonis '05 and Jonathan Farmer '03 who each had nine points and eight rebounds.
After reviewing their performances in the previous competition against St. Joseph, several Bowdoin players altered their game plans in attempts to put on a better showing of their skills.
Eli Maitland '06, who was emotionally distraught after being ridiculed in last week's print of Orient for being the "zero hero" of the St. Joe's game, was sure to score in this contest. Before the game Maitland made it a point to state that he was going to score.
Corey Gildart '05 chose not to bring out the "killer crossover" in this game and when questioned why, he stated, "I'm too tired." Nick Lawler '07 also experienced a bit of fatigue in the contest. He attempted a floater in the lane but was rejected.
The Polar Bears look to expand the wins column this weekend as they take on Tufts tonight at 7:00 p.m. and rival Bates College tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. in Morrell Gym.
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