HAMILTON, N.Y. – Continental senior Hank Morgan netted 29 points against the Mammoths Saturday afternoon, leading Hamilton College to hand the Amherst College men's basketball team a 60-84 defeat.
Amherst fell to 10-8 overall and 1-3 in the NESCAC, while Hamilton improved to 14-4 and 2-2 in the conference. The Mammoths will head north to play Colby College on Friday at 7 p.m. in Margaret M. Crook Center.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
*The Mammoths edged ahead of the Continentals early as junior
Chris Hammond netted a three-pointer fed by sophomore
Marc Garraud to give Amherst a 7-5 lead with 16:55 to play.
*Hamilton quickly responded with a 14-0 run in the following four minutes. As Amherst's momentum slowed from turnovers and misses, Morgan punished the Mammoths with a 6-point run within one minute.
*Another three-pointer from Hammond broke Hamilton's scoring spree with 11:11 remaining, but the Continentals soon regained their offensive rhythm, scoring 8 points in the next two minutes to etch a sizable 27-10 lead over Amherst.
*With under ten minutes remaining, the Mammoths stepped on the gas with a 10-5 rally. A dunk and a layup from senior
Will Scherer helped Amherst chase Hamilton's lead as the team effort brought the Mammoths within 12 points of the Continentals at 32-20 and 5:17 remaining.
*The final five minutes of the half saw Hamilton explode away from Amherst again, going on a 12-2 run until the buzzer sounded.
*The start of the second half saw both teams trade buckets as a three-pointer from Morgan was quickly matched by a three-pointer from senior
Bobby Sommers.
*Amherst regained their offensive rhythm as the final ten minutes approached, netting 14 points within five minutes compared to 4 points from the Continentals. The effort began with a strong driving layup from junior
Drew Martin, while sophomore
Johnny McCain bookended the streak with two straight three-pointers at 8:53 and 8:15 to play.
*Despite late three-pointers from McCain and Sommers in the final five minutes, a closing three points from the Engineers quickly extinguished any hopes of an Amherst comeback.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Hamilton outshot Amherst in field goals and three-pointers, scoring 47.1% (33-70) of field goals to 40% (24-60) from Amherst, and 40.6% of three-pointers to 30.4% from the Mammoths. Amherst held a higher accuracy in free throw attempts, netting 62.5% to 50% from the Continentals.
*Morgan led as the game's top scorer with 29 points. Hammond and Sommers tallied the most points for Amherst, each notching 14 points. Defensively, Scherer lead both sides in rebounds (14) and blocks (3).