At Amherst, LeFrak is jumping
| Aaron Toomey was at the
center of a celebratory weekend at Amherst. Amherst athletics photo |
Aaron Toomey stretched to the limits of his 6-foot-1, 170-pound frame, ascending skyward until Middlebury's last-second Hail Mary heave found his hands, effectively giving Amherst one of the most impressive weekend sweeps of conference opponents you will see in Division III.
“I'm not the most athletic guy or tallest guy out there,” the sophomore guard said, “but I just really wanted it.”
No one on Amherst's roster has experienced the wave of emotion that overcame Toomey and his teammates after defeating archrival Williams last Friday night – the same squad that ended the Lord Jeffs' season in last year's Elite Eight – before upending 2011 national finalist and No. 4-ranked Middlebury in overtime less than 24 hours later. Not since 2007-08 did they celebrate as they did Saturday evening once Toomey's feet touched the LeFrak Gymnasium floor.
More than merely avenging last winter's discontent against the opponents senior guard Taylor Barrise admitted he circled on his calendar, it gave the No. 2 Lord Jeffs the top seed and secured homecourt advantage throughout the NESCAC tournament starting with Saturday's home tip-off against eighth-seeded Hamilton.
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“I think we put ourselves in the best position we could,” Barrise said. “We love to play in LeFrak, so we want to play as many games as we could in LeFrak.”
Since a surprising 68-67 Little Three loss to Wesleyan on Jan. 17 – they won the one that counted in the NESCAC standings Jan. 6 by a 66-64 count – the Lord Jeffs have excelled in the white-knuckle times they struggled with last winter. Especially against the Middleburys and Williamses on their schedule. Barrise and Toomey both recalled how their collective mindset devolved into individual play...
