It looked as if the UMass men’s basketball team’s tenacity and heart was going to pay off just as it has all season, as the Minutemen fought tooth and nail from down as many as 11 points against Loyola Chicago on Wednesday night to take a late 78-76 lead with under 10 seconds to play.
But the Ramblers out-hustled UMass when it mattered most, as Philip Alston had not one, not two, but three opportunities on his last-second drive to the basket. Alston finally converted on the third to tie the game, and a Daniel Hankins-Sanford foul put Alston at the line as well.
“It’s what we’ve done all year,” Martin said postgame of the team’s grit and effort. “We don’t lay down, we don’t run out the door, but at the end of the day, playing hard and losing is totally unacceptable. And I’m tired of it. We did everything we’re supposed to do to put ourselves in a place to win and then we just peed down our leg and gave up the game and that’s totally unacceptable.”
Alston not only sunk his free throw (bringing the game to its final score of 79-78), but also the Minutemen’s opportunity to improve to 4-0 after losses as UMass dropped consecutive games for the first time this season.
“Really disappointed,” Martin said. “I haven’t been this disappointed after a loss in a long time.”
Free-throw shooting has plagued UMass in several games this season. The Minutemen shot 10-for-25 in an overtime loss to Harvard, 8-for-19 in a three-point defeat against Georgia Tech, shot 60 percent from the line in a two-possession game at Dayton, and, finally, UMass missed four shots from the charity stripe over the final minute and a half in Wednesday’s loss to Loyola Chicago.
UMass (11-6, 2-3 A-10) isn’t the most talented team, especially without Matt Cross, who missed his second consecutive game with an ankle injury. But the Minutemen do out-work most of their opponents, and that alone has given them a chance in each of their six losses.
However, just giving themselves a chance isn’t enough, not on Martin’s watch — and he knows that needs to change in a hurry.
“We got to figure out a way to win,” Martin said. “Losing is not acceptable. Playing hard and clapping and saying ‘good try fellas,’ under my watch, that’s never going to be acceptable. We’re expected to play hard, we’re expected to win. And when we put ourselves in a situation to win a game, we got to have the discipline and the courage to go win the game.”
The Minutemen return home on Saturday for a noon tip-off against George Washington (14-3, 3-1 A-10).
The Smith College basketball team is in an all too familiar spot, as the No. 12/16 Pioneers are once again a NEWMAC powerhouse and streaking at the right time toward the final third of the regular season.
Smith is riding a five-game winning streak, and has won 10 of its last 11 games dating back to Nov. 26 – where the Pioneers upset No. 7 Trinity 66-63 at home. Saturday afternoon Smith heads out east to play Wheaton at 1 p.m. looking to improve to 3-0 in conference play.
Senior guard Ally Yamada has emerged as one of the NEWMAC’s best overall players, and is averaging 19 points per game during the Pioneers’ win streak. Yamada poured in a career-high 28 points against Hamilton on Jan. 9, followed that up with 21 points the following game, and 18 in a huge road win over Babson on Wednesday.
Alongside Yamada in the backcourt is Jessie Ruffner. The senior scored at least 14 points in eight of her last 11 outings, including a 31-point eruption in the aforementioned upset of Trinity. Ruffner’s 14-point, 12-board outing helped Smith over the Beavers earlier this week. Sofia Rosa, while struggling a bit as of late, had a dominant stretch to start the season, and is more than capable of returning to that form when it matters most for the Pioneers. Rosa, a graduate senior forward, scored 17 points or more in six consecutive contests, and is also the team’s second-leading rebounder behind Ruffner.
Yamada, Ruffner, and Rosa each average over 14 points per game, giving Smith plenty of firepower to repeat last year’s run to the NCAA Division 3 Final Four — where the Pioneers soared to No. 3 in the national rankings under head coach Lynn Hersey.
After dropping four of five games – all away from home – spanning from Dec. 29 to Jan. 6, the Mammoths returned home for four straight. Amherst won its first three, defeating Tufts, Bates, and Williams by an average of 15 points per game, setting up its next contest against Hamilton at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The Mammoths’ defense can be credited for the quick mid-season turnaround. Amherst gave up 65-plus points in 11 straight games prior to its three-game winning streak, and has since held its opponents to totals of 54, 36, and 41. Opponents are shooting an average of 28 percent against Amherst over the last three contests.
Six-foot-10 center Will Scherer recorded a dominant 10-point, 20-rebound double-double in the win over Bates. Coming off the bench, Bobby Sommers has scored a team-high 13 points in each of the Mammoths’ last two games.
Amherst doesn’t necessarily do anything flashy, but it plays hard and defends at a high level under head coach Marlon Sears. If the Mammoths rely on that scrappy, aggressive play style and can continue to get offensive contributions from Scherer, Sommers, and leading scorer Chris Hammond (who has cooled off of late), this could be a team with potential to compete down the stretch in a stacked NESCAC conference.
