Courtesy of Middlebury Sports Information

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Connor Green '16 went 7-for-11 from three-point range but the Amherst College men's basketball team dropped its 2014-15 regular-season finale to Middlebury College Sunday in Pepin Gym, 82-69.

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Jeffs as they fall to 18-6 overall and 6-4 in the NESCAC. Amherst has earned the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament and will head to fourth-seeded Tufts Saturday, Feb. 21 with a time to be determined. The Panthers conclude their campaign with a 17-7 mark and 4-6 league record, but will miss the NESCAC Tournament for the first time since 2005-06.

Leading 13-8, Middlebury saw Amherst go on a 7-0 run at the 14:12 mark to take a 15-13 lead. The Panthers answered with a 6-0 spurt, capped by a dunk from Matt Daley to put his team up 19-15 with 11:54 remaining. Leading by two midway through the half, Middlebury scored 11-of-13 points to grab a 33-22 advantage at the 7:27 mark. Threes from Hunter Merryman and Connor Huff sparked the run.

Amherst chipped away and cut the lead to six on a three from Jayde Dawson '18 from the top of the key with 1:44 remaining. Middlebury quickly responded with an alley-oop dunk from Jack Daly to Daley, but Dawson knocked down another three from the top of the circle to make it a 41-34 game at the half. Green led Amherst in the first half with 13 points, while Merryman netted a dozen for the Panthers.

Middlebury maintained a lead of three or more points for the remainder of the game, extending the advantage to 11 on a three from Merryman at the 13:28 mark, making it a 57-46 game. The Jeffs responded with a 7-0 run, including a two and three from Green to come within four. Merryman responded on the other end of the floor with one of his four three-pointers to put the Panthers up 60-53 with 9:51 remaining. Jeff Racy '17 converted a lay-up for Amherst to bring them within five, but that's as close as they'd get as Middlebury continued to extend its lead.

The Jeffs received big threes from Green to bring them within seven and six on different occasions. Daley was tough down the stretch for Middlebury scoring on a put-back before converting another alley-oop feed from Daly. Dylan Sinnickson sealed the game late, slamming one home to put his team up by 14 with 1:00 remaining.

Green led all scorers with 29 points and moved into 15th on the Jeffs' all-time scoring list, while Reid Berman '17 scored 11 and Racy chipped in with 10. Green (9), David George '17 (9) and Johnny McCarthy '18 (8) led the team in rebounding, with Berman earning five assists and George blocking three shots. The Jeffs continue to shoot well from downtown and converted 13-of-34 (.357) from three-point range.

Merryman finished with 24 points in the contest on 8-of-15 shooting, while Matt St. Amour went 8-of-14 en route to 18 points. Daley finished with 14 points, 11 boards and three blocks, while Daly dished out a career-best nine assists. Jake Brown handed out eight helpers of his own as the Panthers shot 46.5% from the floor.