SANTA CRUZ, CA -- C.J. Mitchell's three-point attempt at the buzzer caromed off the rim as the Amherst College men's basketball fell to the University of California Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, 58-56, Wednesday afternoon. 

Amherst fell to 4-6 on the season while UC-Santa Cruz improved to 8-5. The Mammoths are back in action Monday, Jan. 2, with an away game at Little 3 rival Wesleyan University. Tip-off is 7 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* It was a possession to possession game over the final 10 minutes. Each team has 12 leads in the game and there were 10 ties throughout. Trailing 57-54 with 13 seconds left. Amherst forced a turnover and Mitchell hit a jumper to make it a one-point game with 5 seconds to go. The Mammoths nearly stole the in-bounds pass, but instead fouled. After a made foul shot, a miss with 3.9 seconds to go was followed by a mad Amherst dash up the court. Sommers fed Mitchell the ball on the left wing, but his shot was just off the rim to the left as the buzzer sounded. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Bobby Sommers led the Mammoths with 12 points. Ryker Vance and Mitchell each had 9. Chris Hammond netted 8, Canin Reynolds 7 and Noah Helmke 6.

* Amherst led 25-22 at the half but trailed by 5 early in the second half before rallying. The Mammoths shot 44.4 (12 for 27) percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes, but shot just 5 of 12 from the line in the defeat.

* Vance added a team-high 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. Reynolds had a team-high 8 assists.