HARTFORD, Conn. – The No. 13 and second-seeded Amherst College men's basketball team fell to fourth-seeded Middlebury College, 81-79 in Sunday afternoon's hard-fought NESCAC Championship title contest at top-seeded Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

With the loss, Amherst (22-5) awaits an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Middlebury (17-10) earns the NESCAC automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Championship and awaits its first round opponent. The NCAA Selection Show will take place Monday, Feb. 29 at 12:30 p.m.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Amherst shot 44.8% from three-point range, and 45.9% from the field led by Michael Riopel's '17 clutch efficiency from beyond-the-arc (4-for-5) and 17 points, but it was not enough as Middlebury relied on stellar free throw shooting with 26 seconds remaining to pull away to the 81-79 victory.
• Jeff Racy '17 and Johnny McCarthy '18 netted 13 points each, while Connor Green '16 and Jayde Dawson '18 followed with 12 and 11 points respectively. David George '17 added nine points and six boards, while Riopel led the squad with seven boards.
• The Panthers saw a game-high 22-point effort from Matt St. Amour, while Matt Daley followed with 16 points. Jack Daly added 13 points, and Zach Baines netted 12 points in reserve for Middlebury.
• Daly led all players with 12 rebounds and St. Amour chipped in seven, while Jake Brown dished out nine assists.
• The Panthers shot 45.3% from the field and were held to just 18.8% accuracy from three-point range, but held a 44-33 advantage in rebounding, and a 38-24 differential in points in the paint.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• In a back-and-forth start to the contest, Amherst jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but Middlebury quickly erased the deficit and used a 12-2 run capped by a three-point play by St. Amour to give the Panthers a 12-6 lead at the 14:32 mark.
• The Purple & White responded with an impressive stretch of their own, scoring 19 of the next 21 points including a pair of three-pointers by both Riopel and Racy, and a swish from beyond-the-arc from McCarthy to give Amherst an 11-point 25-14 lead with 9:12 to play in the stanza.
• Over the final portion of the first half, Middlebury narrowed its deficit to four (33-29) following a Daly fast-break layup with 3:38 to play.
• Amherst extended the lead back to seven after George converted a bucket in the paint and Dawson hit the first of two free throws to make it 36-29 with 2:28 left in the frame, but the Purple & White were held scoreless for the rest of the half.
• The Panthers used jumpers by Majors and Baines to pull to within three at 36-33. With three ticks on the clock, Brown added a layup to set the halftime score at 36-35 in favor of Amherst.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• Amherst scored the first six points of the second stanza as George swished a pair of free throws, while Dawson canned a trey to give the Purple & White a 41-35 lead just 57 seconds into the second half.
• From there, neither team held more than a three-point cushion as the teams battled to seven ties and a 71-71 score.
• With 1:31 to play and trailing, 75-73, Racy delivered a triple to give Amherst a 76-75 edge.
• St. Amour answered with a layup to give the Panthers a 77-76 lead with 1:05 on the clock. Both teams were unsuccessful on their next possessions until Middlebury forced a turnover, and Baines delivered a pair of foul shots to make it 79-76 with 26 ticks remaining.
• After another missed trey and a foul, St. Amour put the Panthers ahead, 81-76 with 10 seconds left, before McCarthy drained a trey as time expired to set the final score at 81-79.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Amherst has now posted six NESCAC runner-up finishes to go along with seven conference championships, and currently stands at 35-9 all-time in NESCAC postseason action.
• Should Amherst receive an at-large bid, the Purple & White will be making their 18th appearance in the NCAA tournament including their sixth straight since the 2011 campaign. Amherst, which has two national titles, last clinched the NCAA crown in 2013.