The Lord Jeffs are coming off a record-breaking week of basketball to push their season record to 7-1. Leading the team was senior Tri-Captain Jamal Wilson (East Orange, NJ), whose phenomenal performances garnered ECAC, NESCAC and Columbus Multimedia Player of the Week honors. For the week, he averaged 28.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 4.0 steals per game.
In the Jeffs' first game after winter break, Wilson drilled 10-11 shots from the field, including 7-7 from behind the arc. His seven 3-pointers set a school record for most by an individual in a single game, as the team shot 15-27 from long range on the way to posting the most number of points in their 125-47 victory. Entering the locker room with a 44 point halftime lead, the Jeffs dominated early with a 27-1 run in the opening six minutes.
Wilson continued his scoring streak against Westfield State with 19 points and seven steals, as the Jeffs claimed an 89-63 win. Stagnating at 6-6 early in the game, Amherst pulled away with its defensive pressure to spark a 13-0 run. But strong play by the Owl big men claimed Westfield's first and only lead at 25-24 with 3:31 left in the first half. Given that momentary scare, the Jeffs pushed the lead to 10 at the half before maintaining their defensive intensity to force 26 turnovers. Junior forward John Pavelski (Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ) hit four 3-pointers for the fourth time this season.
The Jeffs played a close first half at Wheaton over the weekend, as they led by only five at the half. Wilson had 24 of his career high 37 in the first before Amherst shot 62.5% in the second half in a 92-65 win. Wilson is now the No. 9 all-time scoring leader with 1,084 points. This extended Amherst's win streak to seven after dropping their first game of the season and makes Amherst the No. 19 team in the nation, No. 3 in the Northeast.
With the victory over Johnson & Wales, Head Coach David Hixon '75 earned his 300th career win. He is the first Amherst basketball coach to hit the 300 mark and is the winningest in school history. In his 20th season, Hixon boasts a career record of 302-167 (64.4%).
No. Name GP ppg rpg apg
21 Jamal Wilson '97 8 22.4 5.8 2.0
41 John Pavelski '98 8 17.1 6.0 1.8
4 Julian Rowand '98 8 8.9 3.5 2.1
32 Billy Skorupski '98 8 6.6 4.0 0.5
44 Chris Akers '97 8 6.1 5.9 1.3
12 Patrick Mulvey '00 8 5.8 1.5 1.0
24 Chris Ingraham '99 8 5.0 2.6 0.6<
23 Hugh Quattlebaum '00 8 4.1 2.0 0.5
40 Charles Field '99 6 3.7 2.0 0.2
20 Caith Chapman '99 8 2.8 0.4 2.3
5 Mark MacLeod '99 5 3.4 0.8 2.4
11 George Charles '97 8 2.0 1.3 3.6
10 Josh Anish '99 5 3.2 1.8 0.2
30 Chris Smith '00 7 1.9 3.6 0.3
3 Peter Denby '00 3 2.0 1.3 1.0
31 Jackson Collins '00 3 1.7 2.3 0.3
Amherst Totals 8 91.3 45.3 18.3
Opponent Totals 8 66.3 39.9 12.1
Current Record: 7-1
Last Week: Johnson & Wales, W 125-47
Westfield State, W 89-64
at Wheaton, W 92-65
This Week: Mon 1/13 at Salve Regina
Sat 1/18 Williams
