NCAA INTERACTIVE BRACKET

DIGITAL GAME PROGRAM

TOURNAMENT PAGE

AMHERST, Mass. – The No. 15 Amherst College men's basketball team used a pair of Johnny McCarthy '18 free throws with five seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Purple & White to a sensational, 69-68 victory over SUNY Cortland in Saturday evening's NCAA Division III Championship Second Round game at LeFrak Gymnasium.

With the win, Amherst improves to 24-5 on the season and advances to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the fifth time in the last six years. Cortland concludes its season 21-8 overall. The Purple & White will take on Babson College (23-5) Friday, March 11.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Trailing 68-66 with 42 seconds remaining, Jayde Dawson '18 hit the second of two free throws to pull Amherst to within one at 68-67.
• Following a defensive rebound by McCarthy on Cortland's ensuing possession, he passed the ball ahead to Dawson who missed the go-ahead layup. McCarthy collected the rebound and was fouled in the process with five seconds to play in regulation. After swishing both free throws, the Red Dragons had one more attempt to win the game, but JP Reagan's shot was off the mark as Amherst held on for a stunning victory.
• Connor Green '16 led the Purple & White with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, and was 3-of-9 from three-point range. McCarthy followed with 10 points on the strength of two treys, and a pair of significant free throws. Dawson and Michael Riopel '18 netted nine points each, while Erik Conklin '17 and David George '17 added eight and seven points respectively.
• On the glass, Green hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds and McCarthy added nine.
• Carrel Joseph led Cortland with 20 points and was a sizzling 6-of-12 from beyond-the-arc. Blair Estarfaa was 7-of-15 from the field and added 18 points, while Reagon finished with 10 points in reserve.
• Reagan and Shayne Martinez finished with six boards each in the losing effort.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• The first half saw a quick start by the Purple & White as Amherst scored the first five points of the contest and opened up a 12-3 lead thanks to three-pointers from McCarthy and Dawson, and four points by George over the first 4:08.
• The Purple & White led by as many as 11 after Jeff Racy '17 canned a triple at the 13 minute mark to make it 18-7, before Cortland began to chip away at its deficit.
• A Green swish from long distance extended Amherst's lead back to 10 (30-20) with 3:47 to play, but the Red Dragons answered with five straight points including an Estarfaa trey to set the score at 30-25 1:05 later.
• Following a pair of Riopel makes from the charity stripe, Estarfaa struck once more from deep, and James Morales nailed a jumper to set the halftime score at 34-30 in favor of Amherst.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• A back-and-forth start to the second half saw Amherst post a 50-44 lead following a dunk by George at the 12:33 mark before Cortland scored nine unanswered points – all from Estarfaa – to give the Red Dragons a 53-50 advantage with 9:45 to play.
• Reid Berman '17 drained a three-pointer, and Carrel responded with one of his own to keep the visitor's lead at three points. McCarthy tied the game on the next possession with a strike from beyond-the-arc to set the score at 56-56 with 8:32 on the clock.
• Minutes later, the Red Dragons posted their largest lead of the contest (six points) when Reagan powered in a layup to make it 64-58 with 5:53 remaining in regulation.
• A Conklin layup, and two from the stripe by Riopel pulled Amherst to within two with 3:14 to play, but another swish from long range by Carrel gave Cortland a 67-62 cushion 16 seconds later.
• Trailing 68-64 with 1:18 left in the contest, Green grabbed a critical offensive board and made the put-back to pull the Purple & White to within two setting up the game's dramatic ending.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Amherst improves to 39-17 overall in NCAA postseason play since 1994 under head coach David Hixon '75.