WATERVILLE, Me. -- Despite a career-high 20 points from sophomore Ryker Vance Friday night, the Amherst College men's basketball team dropped a 71-56 decision to conference rival Colby in the Mules' Alfond Recreation Center. 

Amherst fell to 9-14 on the season while the Mules improved to 17-6. The Mammoths play their regular-season finale tomorrow at Bowdoin. Tip-off is 3 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* Just over 5 minutes into the game, an old-fashioned three-point play in the paint by Vance gave the Mammoths their first lead at 10-9. C.J. Mitchell scored the next five points for Amherst with a three-pointer and a lay-up, the lay-up giving the visitors a 15-12 advantage. A try from first-year Charlie Randall gave Amherst a 21-19 lead with 8:30 remaining in the first half, but Colby rallied to build an eight-point lead at 35-27 with 3:20 remaining. 

* However, a 7-2 Amherst run to close the half left the Mammoths trailing just 37-34 at the halftime break. Mitchell had the final four Amherst points of the half, including a lay-in with only two seconds on the clock, to help close the gap. He scored all 9 of his points in the first 20 minutes. 

* Amherst shot 52 percent (13 of 25) from the floor in the first half and 75 percent (6 for 8) from the foul line. 

* The Mammoths closed within one point (37-36) in the first minute of the second half as Vance scored on a lay-up from within the paint after a nice dish by Bobby Sommers. But Colby began to pull away when Will King and Noah Tyson knocked down back-to-back three-pointers within 37 seconds of each other for a 49-39 advantage. 

BY THE NUMBERS: 

* Amherst scored just 22 second-half points, shooting 27.59 percent (8 of 29) from the floor and 50 percent (5 of 10) from the foul line. 

* The Mammoths had 10 turnovers in the first half and finished with 17. Colby had just 10 in the game.

* Vance and Randall led the Mammoths with  9 rebounds each. Amherst outrebounded its hosts, 40-29.