AMHERST, MA – The 13th-ranked Amherst College men's basketball team improved to 2-0 in NESCAC play this afternoon with an 89-82 win over visiting Connecticut College. The Lord Jeffs improved to 10-3 overall on the year, while the Camels fell to 6-9 (0-2 NESCAC) with the loss. 

Amherst held a 10-7 lead after five minutes of action, but a strong drive to the left by sophomore Jeff Holmes (Saunderstown, RI) helped the Lord Jeffs extend their advantage. As the clock went past the 12-minute mark, Amherst first-year Willy Workman (Northampton, MA) had a block on the defensive end to spring sophomore David Waller (Tampa, FL) for a layup on the offensive end.  On Amherst's next trip, junior tri-captain Conor Meehan (Meriden, CT) hit a pull-up three to stretch the lead to 20-11, only to see Shavar Bernier answer for the Camels. 

Amherst scored on six straight possessions through the middle of the first half and held a 35-23 lead with 5:27 to play in the stanza. After a response from Dean Lampe for the Camels, Taylor Barrise (Allendale, NJ) hit a triple from the right wing to keep Amherst up double-digits. Bernier hit two three pointers in the final 2:15 of the first half to keep the Camels within a small scoring run of Amherst.

At the break, the Lord Jeffs held a 47-37 advantage with nine players scoring in the half. Meehan paced the Jeffs with 11 points, while Wheeler had eight points in support. Bernier torched Amherst for 18 points in the frame on 6-of-10 shooting, while Demetrius Porter scored eight to lead the Camels. 

Early in the second half, Connecticut closed Amherst's lead from 14 points down to just seven at 55-48 on a Bernier triple. Rob Harrigan hit a three for the Camels with 13:31 remaining to close the deficit to two possessions at 57-51. After a score by Amherst senior tri-captain Steven Wheeler (Bloomington, MN), Harrigan hit another three and Porter took a steal in for a breakaway dunk to close the gap to 59-56. 

Amherst responded with an 8-0 scoring run over the next 2:42, highlighted by a Waller dunk and an alley-oop from Workman to Wheeler for a lay-up on a fast break. The streak left Amherst up 67-56 with nine minutes to play and forced the Camels to call a timeout. 

After the stoppage, Amherst quickly stretched its lead back to 75-60. The Lord Jeff advantage looked comfortable until the final two minutes of the game. What was a 13-point advantage with less than two minutes to play shrank all the way down to 84-80 as the Camels went on a 9-0 scoring run.  Amherst's saving grace at the end of the game was its phenomenal shooting from the charity stripe. After entering the day shooting just 62 percent from the line for the season, the Lord Jeffs finished the day 24-for-26 (92 percent) on free throws to hold on for an 89-82 win. 

Amherst's balanced attack placed five players in double-digits with Meehan leading the way with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Waller and Wheeler combined for nine boards and each scored 16 points, while Workman was solid off the bench with 12 points and five rebounds. The Camels were paced by 30 points from Bernier and 19 points and seven rebounds from Porter.

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