SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior C.J. Mitchell bucketed 15 points off three-pointers alone and scored 19 points total Thursday afternoon to lead the Amherst College men's basketball team to a 73-57 victory over Regis College in the final of the Naismith Classic hosted by Springfield College.

The Mammoths rose to 9-3 on the season while Regis fell to 5-6. Amherst will travel south to face an unbeaten Wesleyan University side Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Silloway Gymnasium.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

*The first half saw both teams trade buckets in the opening ten minutes. After tying the game at 16-16 with eleven minutes to go, two good free throws from junior Drew Martin gave Amherst a two-point lead heading into the final ten minutes of the half.

*A free throw from senior Will Scherer edged Amherst to a two-point lead at 19-17 with 9:43 to go. Roughly a minute later, Scherer added four more points with a layup fed by first-year Elias Chin and a dunk threaded inside by Mitchell. With 7:03 remaining Mitchell received the ball from sophomore Marc Garraud at the arc to bucket three and help Amherst to a 7-0 run.

*Two three-pointers from Regis first-year Aamyr Sullivan helped the Pride weaken Amherst's lead to 28-25 with two minutes to go, but a driving layup from Chin at 1:39 and another from junior Giovanni Tam in the final 34 seconds widened the gap to 32-25 heading into the second half.

*The Mammoths blasted off in the second half, going on an 18-6 run in the first eight and a half minutes. Mitchell added three three-pointers to the pot while senior Bobby Sommers closed the run with a strong dunk to give Amherst a 50-31 lead with 11:42 remaining.

*Senior Noah Helmke bucketed two shots from behind the arc at 9:19 and 40 seconds later at 8:50, helping the Mammoths maintain their lead as the Pride advanced with a strong offensive effort led by junior Jamir Harvey. A 7-0 run in the seventh minute helped Regis fight back for a ten-point game at 59-49, but a three-pointer from junior Chris Hammond and a Mitchell floater kept the Pride at bay with five minutes remaining.

*Hammond and Mitchell bookended the final five minutes with a three-pointer and a layup respectively, alongside a slurry of free throws from Amherst's side, to close the game 73-57 for the Mammoths.

BY THE NUMBERS:

*Amherst held an advantage in shots from the floor, scoring 45.5% (25-55) to Regis's 32.2% (13-35). The Mammoths maintained a smaller lead in three-pointers, converting 44.8% compared to 37.1% from the Pride.

*Mitchell led as the game's highest scorer with 19 points, while Scherer won a game-high 9 rebounds. Garraud totaled the most assists of any player, connecting for 5.

*Defensively, Chin made the most steals in the game with 4, and Scherer helped keep the Pride from finding the rim with a game-high 2 blocks.