MIDDLEBURY, VT – Junior Nate Pabis netted 19 points and senior Chris Hammond added 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Amherst College men's basketball team past Middlebury College in a high-scoring affair that concluded 79-64 at Pepin Gymnasium on Friday evening.
Amherst won its seventh-straight game to improve to 18-5 overall and 7-2 in NESCAC play. Middlebury fell to 8-15 on the season and 1-8 in conference play. Up next, the Mammoths will conclude regular season play with a challenge against archrival Williams at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Chandler Gymnasium.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
*The Mammoths rolled into the lead early, scoring five unanswered points in the opening 90 seconds as senior Drew Martin scored a layup on Amherst's first possession. Sophomore Elias Chin then found first-year Sherron Woodberry beyond the arc at 18:28 remaining to net the first three of the game.
*Middlebury retaliated with a 7-0 streak of its own in the following three minutes, riding a three-pointer and a layup from senior Evan Flaks on two fastbreaks to give the host a 7-2 lead.
*The pendulum swung back into Amherst's favor in the next two minutes as Amherst reclaimed its lead with layups from Hammond and junior Zane Adnan, and a three-pointer from Pabis, 12-7.
*Both sides traded buckets throughout the final ten minutes of the half, equalizing four times throughout the stretch. Two Pabis jumpers and a second Woodberry three led the Mammoths to regain their offensive momentum and pour in seven unanswered points in the final four minutes to close the half with a 33-26 lead.
*Amherst continued its momentum out of the break as the Mammoths rocketed ahead with a 17-1 drive in the opening five minutes. Hammond ignited the stretch with a three-pointer fed by first-year K.J. Neville, followed by two Neville layups, a Woodberry three-pointer, a second Hammond three-pointer, and layups from Pabis and junior Marc Garraud. The effort gave Amherst its largest lead of the night at that point, with a twenty-one point lead at 50-29 and 14:23 to play.
*First-year Justin Fuerbacher helped keep Middlebury's hopes alive at 6:34 remaining, netting a three assisted by Flaks to weaken Amherst's lead to 62-48.
*Pabis quickly responded, pouring in five consecutive points in the following 90 seconds with a layup followed by a three-pointer.
*Back-to-back threes from junior Ian Murray and sophomore Sawyer Ramey, combined with a layup from the latter at 3:06 remaining, brought the Panthers within nine points of the Mammoths as the contest heated up to a 70-61 bout in the final minutes.
*Final layups from Chin and Neville helped Amherst keep its cushion alive at the close as the contest ended 79-64 for Amherst.
BY THE NUMBERS
*Amherst held the offensive advantage in live points, converting 49.1% (28-57) of field goals compared to 35.7% (20-56) from Middlebury, and netting 34.4% (11-32) of three-pointers compared to 29.6% (8-27) from the Panthers. Middlebury held a small advantage in foul-shooting, converting 76.2% of free throws compared to Amherst's 75%.
*Pabis was the game's leading scorer, bucketing 19 points. Hammond followed close behind with 17 points.
*Hammond was also the only player to score a double-double, also netting 12 rebounds.
