AMHERST, MA – In the second NESCAC Quarterfinal game of the day at Amherst College, the top-seeded Lord Jeffs men's basketball team took on No. 8 Colby College at LeFrak Gymnasium. In the first game, the Amherst women bounced the Colby women from the conference tournament 83-53.
Similar to the women's match up, Colby held tight with Amherst through halftime, but fell late to a convincing score. The Lord Jeffs took a 86-69 win to advance to the conference semifinals.
After five minutes of action, the two teams were deadlocked at 10 points apiece. A lay-up by Amherst senior Brandon Jones (Hopatcong, NJ) broke the tie, and meant that all five Amherst starters had scored early in the game. A three-point play from Colby's Michael Russell (Wellesley, MA) gave the Mules a 16-14 lead with less than twelve minutes to play in the first half.
Amherst stole the lead back when senior captain Andrew Olson (San Diego, CA) drained a deep three from straight away. A picture perfect three ball from Amherst sophomore Steven Wheeler (Bloomington, MN) increased the Jeff edge to 22-18 with 9:08 to play in the frame.
With 6:22 to play, Amherst senior Kevin Hopkins (Greenfield Center, NY) tipped away a Colby pass to a teammate, then broke ahead of the pack for a two-handed tomahawk slam. The dunk gave the Jeffs a 26-20 lead and brought the Amherst fans to their feet. After a pair of free throws from classmate Matt Goldsmith (Morristown, NY) increased the lead to eight points before a three-point play by Colby's Justin Sherman (Piedmont, CA) kept pace.
After Amherst opened up a nine point lead, Colby rushed back with consecutive baskets to close the gap to 34-29. Jeff senior Fletcher Walters (Ann Arbor, MI) responded with five straight points to put Amherst up 39-31 with just over a minute to play. Each team dropped home one more basket, sending the teams to the locker rooms with Amherst up 41-33.
Walters led all players with 12 points and four rebounds in the half, while Russell and Adam Choice (Newport, RI) led Colby with 9 and 8 points, respectively.
In the second half, Colby started the frame on fire, and quickly had the deficit down to 43-39. Amherst responded with a nice pick-and-roll between Olson and Hopkins, leading to another thunderous Hopkins dunk. On the following possession, Colby narrowly avoided a shot clock violation with a foul on Amherst. The Jeffs were also whistled for a technical foul on the trip, and Colby cut the lead to 47-43 on foul shots.
After being whistled for the technical, Amherst responded with a 9-0 run in which junior Brian Baskauskas (Palo Alto, CA) hit a pair of jumpers. By the midway point of the second half, Amherst had extended its advantage to 60-47.
Colby looked to climb back into the game, but Amherst played tough defense and kept wracking up blocks inside. Choice continued to lead the Mule attack and seemingly was able to get to the line at will. With 6:09 remaining, the Colby leading scorer fouled out with 22 points and nine rebounds. The sophomore went 6-of-11 inside against the Amherst big men, and made 10-of-14 at the line.
In the final minutes of the game Amherst piled onto their lead, cruising to an impressive victory. Highlights of the last moments included a look-away bounce pass from Olson to Walters for a left-handed dunk.
The final score came in at 86-69 in Amherst's favor. The Jeffs used a balanced scoring attack for the win, with Walters leading four players in double-digits with 23 points and seven rebounds. Olson had 18 points and eight assists, while Baskauskas had 15 points and Hopkins chipped in with 10 of his own. Choice's 22 points and nine rebounds were teamed with a combined 21 points from Russell and Artie Cutrone (Garden City, NY).
Amherst will face Bowdoin next weekend in the NESCAC semifinals at home, while Trinity College will play Middlebury in the other game. Tip-off times will be determined later this evening and available on the NESCAC website.
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