NEW YORK – Will Scherer and C.J. Mitchell combined for 37 points to lead the Amherst College men's basketball team to a 72-67 come-from-behind victory over York College in Queens. Amherst started out slow and went into the second half down, 45-27, but had a gradual comeback over the second half and were able to claim a late-game lead.

Amherst improved to 6-3 while York fell to 1-6. The Mammoths will be home this Saturday to play Westfield State University in LeFrak Gymnasium at noon.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* York started off strong with a jumper from Aidony Nivar leading to a 7-0 run for the Cardinals to open the game.

* Scherer ended the run and got the Mammoths going with a dunk before Johnny McCain hit a three-pointer assisted by Marc Garraud to cut the lead to four. York came back quick with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions by Tyres Desinor and Rohan Singh widening the gap to 10 points.

* York went on a 15-3 run to take a 40-21 lead with 4:55 left in the first half. Dan Schlakman was able to stop the run with two successful free throws for Amherst after he was fouled on the fast break making the score 40-23 in favor of the Cardinals with 3:42 to play in the first half.

* Micaiah Goosby's three-pointer for the Cardinals was the only field goal for the rest of the first half while the Mammoths hit their last six free throws of the half to make the York lead 45-27 at halftime.

* Amherst started off the second half with a 10-0 run. Mitchell and Mohammed Alausa kicked off the half with back-to-back three-pointers. Ryker Vance made a nice layup before an exciting steal by Mitchell led to a floating jumpshot by Vance assisted by Alausa, cutting York's lead to 48-37.

* Chris Hammond hit a three-pointer to tie up the game at 54-54 with 7:14 left. Scherer scored off an offensive rebound to give Amherst the lead with 6:26 left and after Desinor answered to tie the game again, Bobby Sommers hit a layup to put the Mammoths on top again.

* Goosby tied it back up at 58-58 with a step-back for York with 5:38 to play and after Scherer put the Mammoths back on top, the teams traded baskets and the lead back and forth.

* Scherer's putback layup gave the Mammoths a two-point lead with 1:17 to play and with only 27 seconds left, Mitchell hit a three-pointer to put Amherst on top, 71-66. That proved to be the last free throw of the game and Mitchell's free throw with 13 seconds to play secured the win.

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Scherer led the Mammoths with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while Mitchell added a career-high 18 points.

* Vance tallied 12 rebounds and 6 assists.

* The Mammoths held a 45-27 advantage in rebounding.