With the Jumbos trailing 83-82 to the Wesleyan Cardinals in the closing seconds of overtime in Friday night's game and the team's perfect conference record in jeopardy, the team needed a hero.
Luckily, senior tri-captain Reggie Stovell has been playing that role all year for the Jumbos.
With 2.7 seconds left, Stovell took a pass from sophomore Dave Shepherd and knocked down a 12 foot jumper from the corner of the lane. The shot marks the third time this season that Stovell has saved the Jumbos with a game-winner.
"Without Reggie, the team doesn't go," sophomore Dave Shepherd said of his teammate. "He's our go-to-guy and everybody feeds off of him."
In a season in which the Jumbos have improved to 11-7 and 5-1 in the conference, nobody's improvement has been as dramatic as Stovell's.
His statistics are surging as he has boosted his scoring from 11.4 to 19.1 points per game since last year. Stovell has also doubled his rebounding from 5.0 to 9.7 per game and improved his shooting from 40.6 percent to 45.4 percent from the floor. For his efforts, Stovell has been rewarded with two NESCAC Player of the Week awards, the only repeat recipient of the season.
According to teammates, Stovell is a legitimate candidate for NESCAC Player of the Year, but he has a different goal in sight.
"I don't have any concrete individual goals," Stovell said. "I've been working hard, working my best, to make the team win. My only goal is a team goal and that would be to win the NESCAC Tournament."
Stovell's play is a big reason why the Jumbos have a legitimate shot at accomplishing that feat for the first time since 1997.
Stovell attributes his success to the hard work he put in during the offseason. Last season was a frustrating one for him as he appeared in only 18 games due to a preseason injury and was disappointed with his play.
"Last year, I broke my foot before the season even started and wasn't in shape for the season," Stovell said. "This year, I spent the entire summer playing basketball in D.C. and also in the weight room working on legs and squats. That has really helped me get off the floor for rebounds."
Stovell's improvement in rebounding has been important for a Jumbos team that has averaged 10.6 more rebounds a game than its opponents. Stovell has averaged over four offensive rebounds a game, which has given him the opportunity for easy putbacks.
"He doesn't take a lot of shots to get the points he does," senior tri-captain Jesse Belodoff said of his longtime teammate. "Most of his points come in the flow of the offense. Numbers don't lie and his numbers have been phenomenal."
But while they may not lie, they also don't tell the whole story. Stovell freely admits that his changes in his attitude may be partially responsible for the noticeable jump in his statistics.
"I guess a lot of my attitude was kind of anger because we had players who weren't all about basketball," Stovell said. "This year, I don't have to be angry or overaggressive. Last year, I would have to be aggressive to rile the team up. I always consider myself a guy who likes to get everybody excited."
According to his coach and teammates, Stovell has been a leader on and off the floor.
"[Stovell] has been huge," coach Bob Sheldon said. "He is a senior captain and is leading us in points and rebounds. We go the way he goes. When he works hard, as he always does, he really leads us."
According to Belodoff, Stovell's leadership is even more important on a team that has a lot of younger players, as he is able to lead by example.
"[His leadership] has been as good or better than anybody could have expected, not just for him, but for anyone," Belodoff said. "He is always working the hardest in practice and is always in the gym. We have a young team with a lot of freshman and sophomores on the floor. To see someone with that work ethic is crucial."
Stovell's leadership will be tested down the stretch as the team vies for a NESCAC Tournament title.
"We have to beat tough teams," Stovell said. "The next two weeks we face the top three teams in the NESCAC, Amherst, Trinity and Bates. It is important for us to stay focused. It will be tough but it can be done - we have guys who can do it."
