AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College basketball team never trailed on Sunday afternoon as senior Chris Hammond bucketed a season-high 20 points to help the Mammoths claim a 53-45 victory over Wesleyan University at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Amherst improved to 10-3 on the season while Wesleyan fell to 9-4 overall. Up next, the Mammoths will open NESCAC play in a battle against Bates on Friday at 7 p.m. in LeFrak Gymnasium.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
*Hammond drove into the paint and bucketed a layup to open scoring for the Mammoths, 2-0 with 17:12 to play.
*The Mammoth offensive unit stayed hot to push ahead with a 13-0 drive between 15:11 and 11:50 remaining. Hammond, first-year K.J. Neville, and first-year Sherron Woodberry each tipped in three-pointers, while sophomore Elias Chin netted a layup and fed back to Neville for a jumper, 17-2.
*With 7:05 remaining, sophomore Oscar Edelman notched three points for the Cardinals with a bucket from behind the right side of the arch, weakening Amherst's lead to 20-12.
*Junior Josh Cameron drove into the paint, then connected with sophomore Zach Wolinski at the left side of the arch to sink a long-range three-pointer and make it a nine-point game at the close of the half, 29-20.
*Wolinski and Hammond traded layups at the start of the second half to extend scoring to 31-22 with 18:43 to play.
*Senior Jackson Cormier bucketed a three-pointer, then settled a defensive rebound to find senior Sam Pohlman, who drove into a web of Amherst defenders at the paint to secure a layup and reduce the gap to 35-29 with 14:58 remaining.
*The Cardinals continued to apply pressure on the Mammoths with 10:29 remaining, chasing back-to-back layups from Cameron to make it a four-point game at 37-33.
*Hammond continued to produce for Amherst, bucketing his 20th point of the contest with a left-range three-pointer with 7:27 remaining.
*A strong defensive effort from the Mammoths kept the Cardinals scoreless for the next six minutes.
*Junior Charlie Moore and Wolinski kept Wesleyan's hopes alive until the buzzer, each netting a three-pointer in the final two minutes. But the effort was not enough to overcome Amherst's lead, finishing 53-45.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Amherst held the offensive advantage in field goal and three-pointer shooting, converting 34.6% (18-52) compared to 28.1% (16-57) of field goals and converting 30% (6-20) compared to 18.5% (5-27) of three-pointers. Wesleyan notched a small advantage in free-throw shooting, converting 72.7% (8-11) compared to Amherst's 68.8% (11-16).
*Hammond netted the most points of any player with 20. Neville and Wolinski followed behind with 12 points each.
*Neville was the only player to secure a double-double, contributing 11 rebounds alongside his 12 points.
