February 5, 2004
NEW LONDON, NH - The third-ranked Amherst College men's basketball team overcame an early 11-0 deficit to upend non-league foe Colby-Sawyer College 89-66 on Thursday, ending the Chargers' 32-game home winning streak. The Jeffs, now 19-1 overall, outrebounded Colby-Sawyer 50-27, including a 22-6 margin on the offensive glass, while guards John Donovan (Holmdel, NJ) and junior Russell Lee (Lorton, VA) paced the offense with 18 points apiece.
Colby-Sawyer (13-5) connected on its first five field goal attempts, including a trio of buckets by sophomore Andrew St. Clair (Pittsfield, ME), to take the early lead. Donovan ended a game-opening 0-for-6 Amherst dry spell with the first of the team's 16 three-pointers, and the Jeffs continued to chip away, taking a 27-26 lead on a Lee trifecta with just over six minutes left in the opening half.
Colby-Sawyer regained the lead 49 seconds later on a Chris Condon (Reading, MA) three-pointer, but that was the last time the Chargers would hold the upper hand. Lee, whose 18 points on 5-for-6 shooting from long distance tied a career high, connected twice more from downtown to spark a 33-29 edge, and the Jeffs cruised to a 40-34 halftime advantage.
The host Chargers opened the second half with a St. Clair layup and a pair of free throws by Collin Bray (Brookline, MA), but the Jeffs used a 10-0 run to take a double-digit lead they would never relinquish.
Amherst placed five players in double figures with senior Adam Harper (Washington, DC), junior Andrew Schiel (Wayne, PA) and sophomore John Bedford (Ridgewood, NJ) joining Donovan and Lee with 15, 12 and 11 points, respectively. Schiel added a game-high 10 rebounds, while Bedford pulled down nine caroms and junior point guard Ray Corrigan (Queens, NY) dished out a team-high four assists. Amherst senior forward Tim Jones (Richmond, VA) also had a strong game with nine points, six boards, three assists and two blocks.
Sixty of Colby-Sawyer's 66 points came from its starting five, led by Condon's game-high 19 points.
Amherst returns to action Saturday at 3 p.m. for a key conference matchup against visiting 10th-ranked Trinity College (18-1/5-1 NESCAC) - a 72-67 winner over Clark University on Thursday night - with sole possession of second place in the NESCAC at stake. Although Amherst is ranked third in the latest D3hoops.com national poll and Trinity 10th, the Jeffs actually trail the Bantams in the latest NCAA Northeast Regional Poll, which was released on Tuesday. Amherst is currently ranked fourth in the Northeast behind Williams (1), Trinity (2) and Keene State (3).
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