HOBOKEN, N.J. – Senior guard Donovan Sevilla led the Engineers with 19 points and 7 rebounds as Worcester Polytechnic Institute posted a 79-56 win over the Amherst College men's basketball team in the third-place game of the Stevens Holiday Invitational on Saturday afternoon at Canavan Arena.

The Engineers, ranked 16th in the nation in the latest D3hoops.com poll, improved to 9-2 this season while the Mammoths moved to 7-5 overall.

The Mammoths return home on Tuesday (Jan. 2) to begin the quest for the Little Three crown, hosting Wesleyan at 7 p.m. in LeFrak Gymnasium.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Mammoths opened the game in fine form as junior forward Ryker Vance made a steal on the first possession of the game and the Mammoths scored on their first three possessions to take a 6-0 lead.

* The Engineers quickly answered with a 15-1 run, taking the lead on a 3-pointer from junior guard Tim Reidy with 14:52 on the clock in the first half and never trailing from that point forward.

* Sophomore forward Charlie Randall scored four straight points to halve the WPI lead but the Mammoths got no closer than four and the Engineers followed with nine straight points to push the lead to double digits.

* The Engineers led by as many as 20 late in the first half before junior guard Bobby Sommers made four free throws in the final minute of the first half to make the game 41-25 at halftime.

* The Mammoths reeled off eight unanswered points to cut the lead to single digits midway through the second half as Sommers completed an and-one play with 10:30 to play to make the score 58-49.

* The Engineers quickly extinguished any hopes of an Amherst comeback with a 16-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Sevilla that put WPI up by 25 with 3:29 to play.

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Randall led the Mammoths with a career-high 19 points while Sommers chipped in 12 points and Vance added 10 points.

* WPI was buoyed a strong shooting performance, hitting 13-of-27 (48.1 percent) of 3-pointers, while Amherst was 2-of-10 from beyond the arc. The Engineers shot 42.9 percent (27-of-63) from the floor, bettering the 36.4 percent (16-of-44) that the Mammoths posted.

* The Engineers held a 42-26 advantage in rebounds with Sevilla and senior forward John Adams each grabbing seven for WPI. Junior center Will Scherer tallied a game-high eight rebounds and four blocks for Amherst.

* First-year guard Jack Bleier joined Sevilla in double figures for the Engineers with 13 points.