Women
Game of the Week: Tufts at Amherst — Arguably the most highly-anticipated game on the NESCAC calendar tips off tomorrow at 3 p.m., when the conference's only ranked teams take the court at LeFrak Gym in a rematch of last season's NESCAC title bout. Tufts carries the sting of two painful losses to Amherst last year, one on a buzzer-beater and the other in the conference championship game. Much is at stake for the Jumbos in this latest meeting between the two squads, as Tufts enters the weekend in first place in the league standings.
Player to Watch: Val Beckwith, Bates — The Bobcats' senior co-captain raised her scoring average to a NESCAC-best 18.8 points per game following a 26-point effort last Saturday against Wesleyan, but a missed free-throw late in the contest helped pave the way for the Cardinals to come away with a 75-74 win. Beckwith won't have an easy time bouncing back this weekend, as Bates hits the road with games at Amherst and Trinity, the top two scoring defenses in the league.
Inside the Numbers: Five — Number of contests to be played out among the conference's top-six teams this weekend. Just 1.5 games separate first-place Tufts from a pair of fifth-place teams, Trinity and Williams, and the outcomes of this weekend's contests could begin to clear up a muddled postseason picture.
Men
Game of the Week: Colby at Middlebury — Colby will be the latest team to try to halt the Middlebury express, as the Mules pay a visit to the Panthers tomorrow afternoon. After holding off a comeback by Williams last weekend, Middlebury's winning streak sits at 14 games with two weekends left before NESCACs. Colby, meanwhile, is one of the surprises of the league, tied for second with a 4-1 record after going 3-6 in the conference last season. Led by junior Adam Choice, the fifth-leading scorer in the NESCAC at 15.3 points per game, the Mules will be gunning for an upset that could put them atop the conference standings heading into the last weekend of the season.
Player to Watch: Brian Ford, Trinity — Although he has started just one game this season, sophomore Ford has been a key catalyst off the pine for the Bantams. The team's leading scorer at 12.7 points per game, the 6'1" guard notched in double figures twice last week as Trinity split its pair of games. A Bantam team that struggles on defense will need his strong contribution off the bench when they take on Tufts in Cousens Gym tonight.
Inside the Numbers: 74 — Blocks for Middlebury's Andrew Locke. The 6'10" freshman center, who averages 3.7 blocks a game, has a 30-swat advantage over the next-best shot-blocker in the NESCAC, Tufts junior Tom Selby (41).
