AMHERST, Mass. – The Amherst College Men's Basketball team never trailed in its season opener on Friday night, debuting first-years Brandon Margolin, K.J. Neville, Sherron Woodberry, and Ryan Hempfling as the hot-shooting roster took down Rutgers-Camden 68-53 at LeFrak Gymnasium in the opening round of the Ken Wright '52 Invitational.
Amherst opened the season 1-0 overall while Rutgers-Camden fell to a 2-1 record. The Mammoths will advance to the Championship of the Invitational and host either Maine Maritime Academy or Elms College at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Lefrak Gymnasium.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
*A layup each from senior Drew Martin, junior Zane Adnan, and sophomore Elias Chin built a comfortable 6-2 cushion early for the Mammoths as they got off to a hot start in the opening half.
*With 14:13 remaining, Adnan fed to junior Nate Pabis at the right corner, who sank home the first three-pointer of the night to extend Amherst's lead to 9-5.
*Two minutes later, Margolin and Neville each notched their first collegiate buckets with a layup and a jumper, respectively, to push Amherst's lead to 13-5.
*Junior Noah Richmond ended Amherst's scoring streak with 11:46 remaining, adding three points for the Raptors with a controlled shot from behind the arc. But junior Johnny McCain was quick to retaliate, sinking his own three-pointer from the corner with 10:38 to go in the half, maintaining a 16-8 lead for the Mammoths.
*A series of 11 free throws awarded between 9:57 and 7:15 remaining edged the contest to 25-13 as fouls interrupted both sides' momentum.
*Chin and Woodberry partnered up to net a layup and a right-flank three-pointer, respectively, extending the Mammoths' advantage to 30-15 with 6:04 on the clock.
*Junior Marc Garraud hit an emphatic three-pointer from behind the arc with just over one minute remaining in the first stanza. Sophomore Ryan Senft responded with a jumper and a free throw to close the contest to 35-22 at the halftime break.
*First-year Chase Ambrosius paced the start of the second half to a nine-point game, nailing two three-pointers at 16:52 and 16:00 remaining to close the gap to 41-32. But Chin did not let up, rattling in a three-pointer from the left wing with 15:35 to play.
*Both teams traded buckets for the next five minutes, with Marc Garraud and Drew Martin converting layups from the paint to match free throws from Richmond and Cameron Downs.
*Neville led off a 7-0 run between 6:30 and 5:34 remaining, tipping in a layup attempt from Woodberry. Garraud followed up 30 seconds later with two successful free throws, and Hammond closed the sequence with a three-pointer from the right corner to make it 63-43 with just over five minutes remaining.
*Ambrosius responded with back-to-back three-pointers at 4:51 and 4:31 to reduce Amherst's lead to 12 points at 63-51.
*Foul-shooting dominated the rest of the game as the Mammoths heated up their defense to extinguish a Rutgers-Camden comeback. A final layup from Martin, fed beneath the glass by Chin, closed the contest 68-53 in favor of Amherst.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Amherst held an advantage in field goals and three-pointers converted, shooting 34,4% (21-61) of field goals compared to 28.3% (13-46) from Rutgers-Camden, and 28% of three-pointers compared to 23.1% from the visitors. The Raptors led in free throw conversions, netting 75% compared to 59.4% from the Mammoths.
*Downs was the game's leading scorer with 17 points, Ambrosius close behind with 15. Off the Amherst bench, Chin led with 14 points. The sophomore guard also made the most assists, finding 4.
*Hammond won a game-high 13 rebounds, and Adnan notched a game-high 4 steals.
