Lord Jeffs denied a repeat
SALEM, Va. - Amherst knows what it's like to roll over the opposition en route to a Division 3 men's basketball national championship. The Lord Jeffs did it last year and were one win away from doing it again yesterday afternoon at the Salem Civic Center.
But rare is the day when Amherst gets a taste of its own medicine. Washington University of St. Louis took a page out of the Amherst championship playbook and rolled over the Lord Jeffs, 90-68, for the school's first men's hoop title.
Washington (25-6) harassed All-America guard Andrew Olson all over the court. Wherever he went, the Bears' Ross Kelley was with him. Olson turned the ball over eight times and worked hard for every one of his 16 points and six assists.
"They had a great defensive effort," said Olson. "They took us out of our game, especially in the first half [after which Amherst trailed, 45-32]. When we got pressured, it seemed like we took a step backward instead of a step forward."
The Lord Jeffs did not have any answers for Washington center Troy Ruths, the Jostens Trophy winner as the top player in Division 3. Ruths had a weekend to remember, which he capped with a 33-point performance. In the semifinals against Hope, he scored 30 points, and for the weekend Ruths was 20 of 28 from the field. Equally as impressive was his effort at the foul line (23 of 26, including 15 of 17 yesterday).
"Going into the tournament, I realized that free throw shooting would be a key," said Ruths, who made 76 percent during the regular season. "I took a lot of time focusing on it. I knew that they would try to take away my spin move and make me earn it. The whole team shot well from the line [23 for 28]."
Washington shot a blistering 60 percent from the floor (30 of 50). The Lord Jeffs never led, and missed a ton of opportunities to cut into Washington's lead. The biggest run the Lord Jeffs could muster was 5 points midway through the second half. However, by that time the Bears were up, 69-56, and Washington had what was a typical response to an Amherst run: a 3-pointer. Amherst could never stop Ruths or the outside shooting of Aaron Thompson (19 points) and Tyler Nading (13).
"They were terrific," said Amherst coach David Hixon. "They did to us today what we've had the pleasure of doing to other people. They just took it to us and they executed."
Amherst (27-4) fell behind by 9 after the first four minutes (13-4) before hoops by Brian Baskauskas (12 points) and Fletcher Walters (17) cut the deficit to 5. But then in a scene of things to come, Thompson hit two 3-pointers and Ruths two free throws to get the lead back to 13, and Amherst could never get over that hump.
The Lord Jeffs got as close as 6 (35-29) before Thompson hit another three. It was 53-47 with 15:54 to play, but Ruths made two free throws when Amherst thought it had him stopped underneath. Then, at 55-49, Washington's Danny O'Boyle made a jumper after Amherst's Kevin Hopkins shot an air ball, and the Bears never looked back.
"I thought we had a chance to win it until there was 55 seconds left and Coach finally told us it was over," Walters said. "I wasn't going to give up. We stuck together."
