AMHERST, Mass. – The Amherst men's basketball team picked up its fifth consecutive win with a tight 69-65 victory over Westfield State on Saturday afternoon at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Amherst saw most of its offensive production from junior Zane Adnan and senior Chris Hammond. The pair combined for 35 points, with Adnan bucketing 18 and Hammond scoring 17, along with a total of 14 rebounds between the two.
Amherst improved to a 7-1 record while Westfield fell to 4-2. The Mammoths will return after the holiday break to open the D3 Hoops Classic with a contest against Whittier College in Las Vegas on December 27th at 6 p.m.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
*Adnan led off in the first 30 seconds of play, nailing a long-range bucket from beyond the arch to give the Mammoths a 3-0 lead.
*The Owls quickly retaliated in the following two minutes, riding a three-pointer apiece from sophomore Kenney Rogers and sophomore A.Z. Allah to capture the lead, 6-3.
*Adnan returned to hit back-to-back three-pointers between 16:03 and 15:18 remaining. The first saw the guard land his shot from the left wing of the arch, while the second saw him move to the right wing for a step-back bucket.
*Hammond pushed the gap to 16-8, pouring in five points in the next three minutes with a three-pointer and a layup.
*Both sides traded buckets to close the final ten minutes of the half at 39-28. First-year Sherron Woodberry, junior Nate Pabis, Adnan, and Hammond each scored three-pointers throughout the sequence, while junior Jason James led the Owls, rattling in 5 points for the visitors.
*The Mammoths kept their feet on the gas in the start of the second as Adnan wove around his defender before firing a pass underneath the iron to an open Hammond, who quickly bucketed a layup from the paint to make it 41-28.
*With 15:50 to play, sophomore Joe Thomson rattled in a bucket from beyond the left side of the arch, fed by junior Xavier Lewis. Hammond responded one minute later with a clean three-pointer from the left wing, 51-37.
*Between 13:19 and 11:22, Westfield reduced Amherst's lead to 55-48 on a 7-0 drive, highlighted by a steal from Allah, which he converted to a layup, and a high-arching Rogers three-pointer.
*Following a sequence of free throws, Rogers bucketed his 20th point of the match with a three-pointer from the top of the arch, making it a two-point game at 58-56 with 7:01 remaining.
*With just under five minutes remaining, Rogers equalized the game 60-60 with a driving layup.
*Amherst's offensive squad quickly coalesced to regain the lead, riding a jumper from Pabis, a Hammond layup, and two free successful free throws from Adnan to edge away from the Owls 66-60 with 2:31 to play.
*The visitors quickly retaliated, making it a one-point game at 66-65 with 2:08 to play. The effort was helped by a layup apiece from Lewis and James.
*The Mammoth defensive effort was successful throughout the final two minutes of the contest, forcing Westfield to shoot just 2-for-10 from the court and closing the game 69-65.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Amherst held a small advantage in field shooting, converting 41.3% (26-62) compared to 39.6% (21-53) from Westfield. The Owls led in three-point and free-throw shooting, shooting 38.5% to 33.3% and 65% to 61.5%, respectively.
*Rogers bucketed the most points of any player, shooting 22. Off the Amherst squad, Adnan followed close behind with 18 points. Hammond was third with 17.
*Sophomore Elias Chin produced offensively for the Mammoths, finding 10 rebounds and 5 assists, both of which were the most in the game.
