Bowdoin Picks Up 79-49 Victory in NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament
Courtesy Bowdoin Sports Information
WALTHAM, Mass. - The Bowdoin College men's basketball team connected on a season-high 13 three-pointers and shot 76.5 percent from long-distance in an impressive 79-49 victory over Curry in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on Friday evening at Brandeis University. The Polar Bears, who are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 1998-99 campaign, improve to a program-best 22-6 this season. Curry finishes their season with a school-record 18 wins against 11 losses.
Bowdoin advances to take on host Brandeis on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. It will be the 31st meeting between the two schools, but their first since 1987-88. The Judges lead the all-time series 18-12.
A pair of early three-pointers from Mike Hauser and Andrew Hippert keyed a 10-3 spurt to start the game for the Polar Bears. Moments later, a no-look feed from Kyle Jackson found Andrew Sargeantson for a back-door lay-in, pushing the advantage to 14-5 with just over four minutes gone.
Bowdoin continued their hot shooting, hitting four three pointers in a six-minute stretch to spark a 20-3 run, pushing the advantage to 37-12 on a baby-hook shot from Mark Phillips with 8:19 left in the half.
Bowdoin continued to roll late in the period, upping the lead to 29 points before settling for a 53-23 lead at intermission. In all, Bowdoin connected on nine first-half three-pointers, a season-high for trifectas in a half, and buried 72% of their shots from the field, also a season-high for a half.
The Polar Bears cooled off slightly in the second stanza- hitting on 37% of their shots- but maintained their stellar defensive effort that saw them out-rebound the Colonels 39-24. Bowdoin upped their lead to as many as 39 points in the second half as they cruised to victory.
Bowdoin posted 23 assists as a team, moving the ball exceptionally all evening. Hippert (16) and Jackson (16) paced the Polar Bear offense by both hitting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Hippert also dished out five assists while Jackson notched seven rebounds. Mike Hauser (11) and Mark Phillips (10) also saw double figures for the Polar Bears.
Tim Jones led all scorers with 21 points for Curry, as Johnathan Bowers was the Colonel's second-leading scorer with nine points and six rebounds.
