Courtesy Amherst Sports Information

Box Score

SALEM, Va. - Defending NCAA champion Amherst ran away from Ursinus 84-58 in the semifinals of the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Salem Civic Center. 2008 NESCAC Player of the Year Andrew Olson (San Diego, Calif.) finished the game with a triple-double, scoring 21 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing the ball 10 times. Amherst will face Washington-St. Louis Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. for the 2008 NCAA title.

After a turnover from senior Brandon Jones on Amherst’s first offensive possession, the Lord Jeffs drilled their next four shots, without as much as touching the rim, to jump out to a 9-5 lead in three minutes of action. At the 14:15 mark, junior Brian Baskauskus hit a jumper from just inside the arc to keep the Jeffs up four points at 11-7.

As play approached the mid-point of the first half, Amherst was able to repeatedly create second-chance opportunities off offensive rebounds. In just the first handful of minutes, Olson already had a career-high seven rebounds as a trio of long shots caromed back to the point guard.

With 8:16 to play, Amherst had opened up a 23-12 lead after a pair of free throws by Olson. Ursinus showed signs during the next few minutes of cutting into the deficit, but Amherst responded with another three from senior Fletcher Walters, this time on a behind-the-back pass by Olson.

At the 2:46 mark, Ursinis head coach Kevin Small called a full timeout, with his team trailing 36-24. Coming out of the timeout, the Bears through a pass into their own backcourt, and were forced to grab control for a violation and give the inbounds opportunity under the hoop. The inbounds pass was floated to Hopkins cutting the hoop for a two-handed tomahawk slam over Shema.

In the final minute of the first half, Amherst created one final possession off a miss by Bears’ leading scorer Nick Shattuck, to get Walters a final score. Walters finished the half leading all players with 14 points to give Amherst a 42-33 lead, while John Noonan kept Ursinus in the game with a dozen first-half points. Olson nearly recorded a triple-double in the first half with nine points, seven assists, and eight rebounds.

The Jeffs started the second half right where they left off with a beautiful three-ball from Jones on the left wing. The triple put Amherst up 45-31, before the Bears responded with a tough finish on a drive from Noonan.

Amherst stretched the lead to 58-37 by the 15:15 mark of the second half on a deep three from Olson, after Amherst’s tenth offensive rebound. The rout was on as the nine minute mark of the second half came, and went. Olson drilled back-to-back three balls to put Amherst up 77-45 just after that point.

With eight minutes to play, Olson found his 10th rebound, and picked up his first career triple-double with plenty of time to play. At the 5:18 mark, Amherst head coach David Hixon ’75 took Olson out of the game to a standing ovation by Amherst’s share of the 2,113 person crowd. Olson finished the semifinal with another spectacular Salem performance, scoring 21 points, grabbing a career-high 10 boards, and dishing out 10 helpers.

Time ticked away as Amherst held on for an 84-58 win, punching their ticket for tomorrow’s National Championship game and a chance to repeat. Olson was joined by three teammates in double-digits as Walters ended the night with 18 points and eight boards, while Baskauskas and Jones poured in 17 and 11 points, respectively.