AMHERST, Mass. -- A decisive 18-0 run to close the first half allowed the Amherst College men's basketball team to close out their home schedule with an 87-44 victory over Pratt Institute in LeFrak Gym Monday night. 

With the win, the Mammoths improved to 9-13 overall. They are at Colby Friday night for a 7 p.m. tip-off. Pratt fell to 6-16 on the season. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Mammoths led 24-20 with 5:45 to go after Pratt's Ace Bibbs drained a three-pointer for the visitor. Only 24 seconds later Noah Helmke drained a three-pointer to answer off a Canin Reynolds feed for the basket that would set off the decisive run.

* A Will Scherer steal led to a Beluolisah Oranye lay-up for a nine-point Amherst lead. A second consecutive Scherer steal led to a Oranye dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. Down the strecth, Scherer took over, scoring six of the next 10 Amherst points. Reynolds sandwiched a three-pointer in there during that time as well as the Mammoths went in to the locker room at half, 42-20.

* The Mammoths shot 48.5 percent (16 of 33) from the floor in the first 20 minutes, including 42.9 percent (6 of 14) from beyond the arc. The bigest difference for the Mammoths came on the glass, where they held a 29-14 edge. 

* Amherst stayed on course at the start of the second half, constructing an 8-2 run in the opening 2:07 to see its lead to balloon to 28 points. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* No less than 13 Mammoths scored in the win. Helmke had a team-high 14 points. Scherer had 12 points and 11 rebounds.  Oranye scored a season-high 12 points as well. Michael Schretter had 8 points and 6 rebounds. Ryker Vance contributed 8 points. Reynolds had a team-high 7 assists. 

* Senior Will Phelan, who missed much of the season with an injury, came on to play the final 5 minutes of the game. It was likely the final home game for Phelan, Schretter, Oranye and Yaseen Zarroug.