AMHERST, Mass. – Four players scored in double-figures but the second-ranked Amherst College men's basketball team dropped a non-conference home game to No. 23 Babson at LeFrak Gymnasium Thursday night, 68-49.
The Jeffs have now lost two straight as they drop to 5-2 overall on the year. The Beavers' claimed their seventh consecutive as they improve to 8-1 in 2014-15 and 3-1 against NESCAC competition.
David George '15 posted a double-double to lead Amherst with a team-high 12 points and 12 boards, while adding four blocks. Connor Green '16, Jayde Dawson '18 and Johnny McCarthy '18 each scored 10 and Reid Berman '17 dished out a team-high three assists.
Babson was led by Eric Dean and John Wickey with 17 points apiece. Dean recorded a double-double as he added 12 boards. He also registered three assists and went 6-for-7 from the free throw line. Wickey added nine rebounds and Sam Bohmiller joined the duo in double-digits with 12 points.
Both teams struggled to score early in the first half. After a three-pointer by Wickey tied the game at 3-3 at the 17:75 mark, almost three minutes went by without a basket by either squad. A pair of foul shots by the Beavers at 15:07 ended the scoreless streak as the visitor's took their first lead of the game.
Just over two minutes later, McCarthy pulled up from downtown and gave the Jeffs the lead back, up 8-7. However, Dean responded with a three-pointer of his own to put the visitor's ahead as they never looked back. Ahead by two with 8:32 remaining in the first half, Babson went on an 8-0 run in under four minutes of play. Amherst responded with six straight points but the Beavers recorded another run as they went ahead, 33-22 with 1:22 remaining. They would eventually take a 36-24 lead into the break.
A lay-up by Dawson early in the second half cut the deficit to single digits and Jacob Nabatoff '17 followed up with another bucket as the home team trailed by seven, 38-31. However, 5:14 later, a lay-up by Wickey put Babson back up by 11 with 10:28 to play in regulation as they held a double-digit lead the rest of the way en route to the 68-49 win.
As a team, the Jeffs shot 17-of-56 (30.4%) from the floor, 3-of-20 (15.0%) from three-point range and 12-of-20 (60.0%) from the foul line, while the Beavers went 26-of-61 (42.6%) on field goals, 5-of-16 (31.3%) from behind-the-arc and 11-of-18 (61.1%) from the charity stripe. The Beavers also held a 47-35 edge in rebounding and 14-8 advantage in assists.
Amherst is off for two weeks and will return to action Tuesday, Dec. 30 for a non-conference game at Drew. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
