NEW LONDON, Conn. - For the first time in 20 years, the Connecticut College men's basketball program hosted a NESCAC Tournament game as they took on the 11th seeded Bowdoin. The Camels lost to the Polar Bears 56-53 in a tremendous comeback effort that fell just short.
With just 200 student-section tickets available, the student body flocked upon the opportunity to watch the Camels make history, as all tickets were claimed within less than an hour. Those who managed to secure admission into Luce Field House made their presence felt immediately as the sea of white lined and rocked the bleachers from the first whistle to the last.
Adjusting to the deafening roars of the crowd, both sides found themselves struggling to score in the opening minutes of play.
Back-to-back scores from James McGowan gave Bowdoin an early 6-0 lead, and after a series of exchanged stops and scores, McGowan's first of two 3-pointers gave the Polar Bears a 21-9 lead with just under eight minutes to play in the opening period.
Staring at an early 12-point deficit, the Camels turned to the sharpshooting duo of
Billy Whelan (Hamilton, Mass.) and
Ben Rice (Hanson, Mass), whose back-to-back scores cut the deficit to four, a deficit that the Camels would carry into the break as they trailed 26-22 at intermission.
The commencement of the second half featured another McGowan 3-pointer and an ensuing series of exchanged stops and scores, with Bowdoin's lead hovering at seven points.
However, a layup from junior forward Xander Werkman was followed by a 3-pointer from teammate, Manav Randhawa, and the Polar Bears managed to bring their lead back into double-digits with a 41-30 advantage, nine minutes in.
Determined to stay within fighting distance, the Camels rattled off a 12-3 run, which when capped by a
David Murray (Jackson Heights, NY) layup, brought the score to 44-42 with just under seven minutes to play.
Scores from Werkman and McGowan brought the visitors' lead back into the range of four and five points, a margin that they carried into the final two minutes of play.
Just over a minute to play, sophomore guard Michael Simonds dropped in a pair of free throws to give the visitors a two possession lead.
With their season on the line, the Camels turned to freshman guard
Cam Schainfeld (Newton, Mass.) who pulled up and buried a deep 3-pointer to cut the deficit to just three.
After the Camels managed a stop on the ensuing possession, Whelan knocked down a free throw to cut the deficit to two. But that was the closest that they would come as a free throw from Werkman capped off Bowdoin's 56-53 win. A shot by Schainfeld at the buzzer fell short to end an intense, closely contested conference tournament game.
Rice led the way for the Camels, registering a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Schainfeld joined Rice in double-digit scoring with 10 points of his own.
McGowan was the leading scorer for the Polar Bears with 17 points. Randhawa followed closely with 15 points on 5-8 shooting from behind the Arc. Werkman joined his teammates in double-digit scoring, adding 10 points on 4-6 shooting from the field.
Connecticut College graduates two seniors and returns 11 varsity letter-winners next season.
