The Lord Jeffs bettered their record to 4-1 after blowouts of Clark and WNEC, and a 77-65 win over Middlebury in their first NESCAC game. David Hixon '75 has 299 wins in his 20th season as the Amherst head coach and is the winningest basketball coach in school history at 64.1%. He will go for his 300th win against Johnson & Wales in the new year.
Tri-Captain Jamal Wilson '97 (East Orange, NJ) became the 11th player in Amherst men's basketball to reach the 1000-point mark on a put-back of a John Pavelski '98 (Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ) miss against WNEC. Wilson posted 20 points to bring him to 1000 points as he pulled down six boards and had four assists and four steals with 10 minutes left to play.
When the scorer's table stopped the clock on what seemed like a routine basket, Wilson was taken by surprise. "I had no idea that I was so close to 1,000 points -- I wasn't thinking about it at all. It's nice to be remembered and make a place for yourself, but I'd rather be known as Jamal Wilson, part of the team who made the NCAA Tournament in both his freshman and senior years. I feel I have more to contribute to the team now than I did as a freshman, but I'm going to take this year really relaxed and hope that we keep getting better, because there's no limit on what we can do."
"We've expected great things from Jamal ever since he first came to Amherst," remarked Hixon. "Of all the players, he's the one who can take over a game physically. We're hoping that he can remain a steady leader as a senior captain -- if he does, he can end up somewhere between the third highest and the school's leading scorer."
Pavelski led the Jeffs against WNEC with his 29 points and eight rebounds as he hit four three-pointers for the third consecutive game. He leads Amherst with 16 from long-range as the team's leading scorer (19.8 ppg) and rebounder (7.4 rpg). He was named to the ECAC Honor Roll for his 35 points and 14 boards against Clark and Middlebury.
The Bears jumped out to an early lead until Amherst's slashing drives to the hoop produced a series of 3-point plays to generate a 10 point lead with 6:20 in the first. WNEC fought back to only a three-point deficit at the half and pulled within one on a Kevin Codey jumper with 16:46 to play. But the Bears' 26 fouls and 25 turnovers caught up with them as the Amherst defensive pressure claimed 17 steals. At the buzzer, the Jeffs won their second 100+ point game, 106-81.
The previous week, Amherst posted its first triple-figure game against Clark in their home-opener on the new shock-absorbing hardwood floor of LeFrak Gymnasium. The Jeffs had five players in double figures against Clark, and three with three steals a piece to thoroughly dominate the Cougars both offensively and defensively. A series of fast break points gave the Jeffs the early lead, but it was a 9-0 run late in the first that blew the game open to 53-32 going into the locker rooms. Wilson scored 14 of his 15 points in the first half as the Jeffs shot 50.0% in the first 20 minutes of play.
The Jeffs extended their lead throughout the second half as Clark committed 30 turnovers and 26 fouls for the game. The defensive pressure of Chris Ingraham '99 (Tuscon, AZ) and Hugh Quattlebaum '00 (Andover, MA) stifled the Cougars as Quattlebaum nabbed three steals and Ingraham posted 12 points for the night. The Jeffs finished with a 112-68 win a 52-35 rebounding margin, including more offensive than defensive rebounds for second-chance points.
At Middlebury, Wilson led the team with his 27 points (4 from 3 point) and 9 rebounds en route to the Jeffs' third win of the season. Outscoring the Panthers 40-28 in the first half, the two teams played evenly through the second as they each added 37 to their totals.
No. Name GP ppg rpg apg
41 John Pavelski '98 5 19.8 7.4 1.8
21 Jamal Wilson '97 5 19.0 6.4 2.2
4 Julian Rowand '98 5 11.0 4.2 2.4
44 Chris Akers '97 5 6.2 5.6 1.4
12 Patrick Mulvey '00 5 6.2 1.6 0.8
32 Billy Skorupski '98 5 4.8 2.6 0.4
24 Chris Ingraham '99 5 4.8 1.2 0.2
20 Caith Chapman '99 5 3.0 0.4 2.0
40 Charles Field '99 3 3.7 1.7 0.0
23 Hugh Quattlebaum '00 5 2.2 0.6 0.0
5 Mark MacLeod '99 2 5.0 1.0 3.5
11 George Charles '97 5 1.2 2.0 5.0
22 Keith Tierney '99 2 2.5 1.5 0.5
31 Jackson Collins '00 2 1.5 2.0 0.0
30 Chris Smith '00 4 0.5 2.0 0.3
10 Josh Anish '99 2 1.0 1.5 0.5
3 Peter Denby '00 2 0.0 0.0 0.0
Amherst Totals 5 84.8 42.0 18.2
Opponent Totals 5 70.8 41.0 13.2
Current Record: 4-1<
Last Week: Clark, W 112-68
at Middlebury, W 77-65
WNEC, W 106-81
Up Next: Tue 1/7/97 Johnson & Wales, 7:30pm
Thu 1/9/97 Westfield State, 7:30pm
Sat 1/11/97 at Wheaton, 7:00pm
