The men’s basketball team is cementing their dominance over Division III (DIII) athletics, rising to #4 ranking in d3hoops.com’s latest poll and battling with Augustana College for the #3 spot. The ranking, which runs on a coaches’ poll system, has the Hamilton team at 541 points, trailing Augustana’s 546 and conference rival Williams College’s 567 points. The manageable difference means that Hamilton could find itself at #2 if their strong play continues.
The team’s 7–0 record is perfect but they’re not alone in the NESCAC; both Williams (7–0) and Amherst (5–0) are also undefeated. NESCAC play has not started yet for men’s basketball. Hamilton will play its first conference matchup in January against Trinity College (5–2). So how did Hamilton men’s basketball launch itself from #9 in the preseason poll to #4 and an undefeated 7–0 record?
Last season certainly helped, setting a solid foundation for this year’s squad. The team finished 24–5 (7–3 NESCAC). Though they were edged by Williams (who seems to be the team to beat again this season) in the NESCAC semifinals, the Continentals received a bid to the DIII championships, where they advanced to the third round. The Continentals, led by a career-best game from Kena Gilmour ’20, narrowly lost 92–90 in the third-round game against Springfield College and finished the season ranked #11. Gilmour racked up honors from around the NESCAC and DIII and was named to the Division III All-District Men’s Basketball Team, the 2018 D3hoops.com Men’s All-Northeast Region Team, and the 2018 NESCAC Winter All-Academic Team.
With Gilmour and a three returning starters at the helm, Hamilton began their season with good news: they had been ranked #9 in the d3hoops.com preseason poll released on Thursday, Oct. 11. Adam Stockwell, the men’s basketball coach who was named the 2018 NESCAC Coach of the Year, returned fresh for his eighth season with the Continentals, ready to steer the team to more success. And whether it was Stockwell’s direction, Hamilton’s hunger for more wins, or a combination of both, something clicked. The first game of the season was a 97–72 win against Centenary University (1–7) on Saturday, Nov. 17. Peter Hoffmann ’19 led the team with 18 points, but depth is the key word in this loaded roster; six other players had at least 10 points.
Hamilton’s second win of the season was a massive 125-point showing, nearly doubling the York College’s (3–5) 65 points on Sunday, Nov. 18. Gilmour ran wild with 28 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocked shots in only 18 minutes of play. This gave Hamilton a chance to put in some fresh faces. Eric Anderson ’22 led the team with 11 rebounds and Elliott Tirbaso ’22 bagged the Continentals’ 100th point with around 10 minutes left to play. The final 125–65 score overwhelmed York’s team and was a morale booster for a team looking to establish dominance.
The next challenge was Bard College (4–3) on Tuesday, Nov. 20. Though a closer game than the York matchup, Hamilton improved to a 3–0 record with a 97–88 win. Gilmour led the team in both points and rebounds, with 32 and 8 respectively. Tim Doyle ’19 had a career-high 10 assists. Solid play by Sayo Denloye ’20 and Spencer Kendall ’21 contributed to the win. Free throws from Mark Lutz ’20 and Nick Osarenren ’22 helped, and Michael Grassey ’19 had a nice layup with five minutes left to cushion the Continental lead.
Hamilton headed to Pittsburgh, PA, the next weekend for the Carnegie Mellon Invitational, which featured the closest game so far this season, but Hamilton ultimately came through unscathed and with a 5–0 record. The first game of the Invitational was against Transylvania (3–3) on Saturday, Nov. 24 and Grassey dominated, leading the team in both points (24) and rebounds (9). Hamilton went on to a 73–63 win. The Continentals took on the hosting Carnegie Mellon (2–6) team on Sunday, Nov. 25 and faced a tough challenge. However, the 79–71 win (the closest game so far) gave Hamilton the Invitational title and a 5–0 record. Gilmour and Hoffmann each contributed 16 points and Grassey finished off his weekend with 8 rebounds.
Both Grassey and Doyle made the all-tournament team, and Grassey was named tournament MVP. Grassey’s superior week did not go unnoticed; he was named the NESCAC Men’s Basket- ball Player of the Week for the week of Monday, Nov. 26. Grassey averaged 15.7 points a game over the three games of the week, along with 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists. This was his first time named as a NESCAC Player of the Week, an honor that the 6-foot-4 wing would like to repeat. The next day, d3hoops.com released their first updated poll of the season, and Hamilton had vaulted from #9 to #3 nationally.
This past week, Hamilton took on Utica College (4–1) on Thursday, Nov. 29 away and defeated the Pioneers 73- 58. Gilmour led the team with 21 points and Grassey, Hoffmann, and Lutz each had points in the double digits. Kendall was perfect on shot attempts and Hamilton capitalized on Pioneers’ turnovers to grab 23 points on turnovers. Hamilton had a 50–24 advantage in the paint and managed to win the game despite trailing at the break.
The Saturday, Dec. 1 game was another decisive win, this time away at Johnson & Wales (3–3), where they won 91–71 and extended their win streak to 7 straight games. Grassey led with 21 points and Andrew Groll ’19 had a double-double with 18 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. Gilmour and Hoffmann also had double-digit points. Osarenren continued his strong defensive play and sits second on team in blocked shots.
Despite the team’s undefeated play, Hamilton fell one spot in the next d3hoops.com poll to #4, a drop that will be easily fixed with continued strong play. The real challenge will begin when NESCAC play starts in January. The team will head to Florida after the holidays for the Daytona Beach Ocean Center Land of Magic Classic. The next home games after classes resume will be NESCAC matches against Friday, Jan. 25 against Bowdoin and Saturday, Jan. 26 against Colby, both in the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House.
