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Press Release

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SALEM, — Amherst senior guard Andrew Olson scored a game-high 21 points, and completed the triple-double with ten rebounds and ten assists as the Lord Jeffs (27-3) advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championship with an 84-58 victory over Ursinus (29-3) Friday afternoon at the Salem Civic Center.

The Lord Jeffs, the defending national champions and ranked third in Division III by D3hoops.com, will take on either Hope or Washington University in Saint Louis in the title game at 4 p.m. Saturday. Ursinus will take the loser of the second semifinal (Hope or Washington University) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the consolation game.

“Obviously, we were playing against a terrific team and we knew what we were up against,” Ursinus head coach Kevin Small said afterwards. “From the film we watched, as well as the scouting report and by talking to the coaches who have played them, I think for us to have competed at a better level, we were going to have to play an exceptionally good game.”

“Our kids are disappointed because at the end of the day, we didn’t play quite as well as we’ve been playing.”

Amherst also got 18 points out of senior forward Fletcher Walters, as the Lord Jeffs put four starters in double figures.

Ursinus, who appeared in the national semifinal for the first time since 1981, got a team-high 18 points from junior guard John Noonan (Havertown, PA/Friends Select). Senior guard Nick Shattuck (Ardsley, PA/La Salle) and senior center Michael Shema (Geneva, Switzerland/Westtown) each had ten points. The loss snapped Ursinus’ 23-game winning-streak.

Shattuck played 38 minutes in the contest, extraordinary as he has been nursing an injury since the Baptist Bible contest.

“It never crossed by mind to sit out a game,” Shattuck said. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to play in the final four. From the moment it happened, I didn’t want to sit out and I told coach if he sees me out there dragging my feet it is up to him whether he wanted to take me out.”

Ursinus, ranked 16th in the country, got the first basket of the game, and took its only lead at that point with 19:22 to go on a layup by Noonan.

From there, the Lord Jeffs tied the score at 2-all on a basket by junior Brian Baskauskas. Amherst took the lead for good at 4-2 with 18:24 left on a basket by Olsen.

Ursinus hung in, getting to within on at 6-5 on a three-pointer by Noonan with 17:35 left.

Another three-pointer by Noonan with 11:03 left put Ursinus within two at 14-12, but, Amherst responded with a 9-0 scoring run over the next 2:33 to go up 23-12 with 8:30 left on a pair of foul shots by Olsen.

Amherst built the lead as high as 14 (38-24 with 2:39 left), before settling on a 42-31 halftime advantage.

In the second half, Ursinus would get no closer than 12 points at 45-33 with 19:01 left on a three-pointer by Noonan. Noonan finished the afternoon with just two three-pointers. As a team, Ursinus was just 3-for-12 from the three-point line. Amherst was 11-for-28 from behind the arc.

Amherst led by as much as 35 points in the second half, advancing to the title game for the second straight season.

The Lord Jeffs held a 46-35 advantage on the glass, with Olson grabbing a team-high ten. For Ursinus, Shema finished with ten boards as did sophomore guard Remy Cousart. Cousart also had a team-high six assists, while Shattuck finished with three blocks.

Amherst turned 20 Ursinus turnovers into in 27 points. However, Ursinus had 36 points in the paint while the Lord Jeffs had 18.

“I definitely think the way they defended us threw us off a little today,” Noonan said. “Amherst plays a different defense than we’ve really seen all year. We’ve seen defenses like it but they seem to switch at almost random times.”

“I know we all played our hearts out,” Noonan added.

Press release submitted by on Mar 21 2008 at 09:04 PM

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