AMHERST, Mass. – Anna Maria College rallied from a 22-point deficit to claim an 82-79 win in overtime over the Amherst College men's basketball team on Friday night at LeFrak Gymnasium.

The game was the season opener for the Mammoths while the Amcats evened their record at 1-1 after playing their second straight overtime game.

The Mammoths are back in action in a week's time, hosting VTSU Castleton on Friday, Nov. 17, at 5 p.m. to kick off the Ken Wright Invitational Tournament.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Mammoths jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first six points of the game, then going on a 12-0 run to take an 18-3 lead when first-year guard Marc Garraud hit his first collegiate shot.

* A three-pointer from sophomore guard Chris Hammond gave the Mammoths a 30-9 lead, their largest of the first half, with 11:03 to play. Hammond hit his fourth three-pointer of the game in the final minute of the first half and Amherst took a 52-34 lead to halftime.

* The Mammoths had a 20-point lead with eight minutes to play but from there the Amherst shooting went cold and the Amcats reeled off 23 straight points to snatch the lead away. Down by one with 59 seconds to play in the second half, senior guard Gabe Armstead hit a pair of free throws to give Anna Maria its first lead of the game.

* Sophomore guard Malakhi Knight hit one of two free throws to give the Amcats a 69-67 lead with 34 seconds left. With the final seconds ticking away, Hammond found junior forward Ryker Vance under the basket and Vance scored to tie the game at 69-69 with 0.8 seconds on the clock, sending the game to overtime.

* The Amcats took a 79-75 lead when Armstead drained a layup with just under two minutes to play in the extra session, scoring what would prove to be the final field goal of the game.

* From there it was all free throws on the scoreboard. Vance and senior guard Mohammed Alausa each hit a pair to tie the game at 79-79 with 1:14 to play, but the Mammoths never got back to the line from there. Sophomore guard Ray Carter Jr. hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final minute of overtime to lift Anna Maria to a three-point win, capping an eight-point overtime period for Carter.

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Armstead led the Amcats with 20 points and 10 rebounds with Carter contributing 18 points for Anna Maria.

* Vance and sophomore forward Charlie Randall each tallied double-doubles as the Mammoths had a 62-38 advantage in rebounds. Vance posted 18 points and 11 rebounds while Randall added 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds to lead four Mammoths in double figures. Hammond scored 14 points and junior center Will Scherer added 10 points.

* Garraud and fellow first-year Nate Pabis made their collegiate debuts in the contest.