AMHERST, MA – The No. 4 seed Amherst College men's basketball team saw its stay in the NESCAC Championship come to an end Saturday afternoon in the tournament quarterfinal as No. 5 seed Bates College defeated the Mammoths 70-59 with a hot-shooting second-half performance at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Amherst closed the season with an 18-7 overall record and a 7-3 finish in NESCAC play. Bates improved to 18-7 on the season and a 5-5 record in the conference. The Bobcats will advance to the tournament's semifinal to face No. 1 seed Wesleyan on Saturday.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
*Bates wasted no time in getting started, firing off two back-to-back threes in the opening two minutes to gain an early 6-0 lead.
*Against a tight-pressing Bobcat offense, Amherst struggled to score its first field goal until 13:49 remaining, when first-year K.J. Neville bucketed an underhand layup to tighten the contest to 6-4.
*Amherst's offense heated up from there as the Mammoths blasted into the lead with a 14-0 drive. Junior Marc Garraud led off the streak with a layup fed by Neville on a fast break. Following two successful Garraud foul shots, sophomore Elias Chin poured in three points with a step-back bucket from the wing. The Garraud-Neville duo struck one minute later, netting a three-pointer and a layup respectively, to give Amherst an 18-8 lead with 8:35 to play.
*The Bobcats retaliated with a 12-2 streak of their own, highlighted by three-pointers from junior Babacar O'Leary and junior Cole Decker, to equalize the game 20-20 with 2:16 remaining.
*Following back-and-forth play in the final minutes of the first half, senior Brady Coyne rattled in a shot from the top of the arch with 27 seconds remaining to tie the contest 25-25 at the break.
*Garraud helped keep the Mammoths close to the Bobcats in the opening five minutes of the second half, netting one three-pointer and two free throws within the timeframe. The effort helped Amherst tie up the game at 32-32 with 15:37 to play.
*Amherst suffered a five-minute scoring drought in live points from 11:27 and 6:11 remaining, but strong free-throw shooting from the Mammoths helped Amherst retain its 44-42 lead.
*With just over five minutes remaining, the Bates offense drove into the lead on a 12-3 drive between 5:45 and 3:17, collecting buckets from O'Leary and Sean to claim a 56-46 advantage.
*The Bobcats scored 10 free throws within the final two minutes to slow the pace of the contest and cushion their lead. While final three-pointers from Chin and Neville threatened to close the gap, the effort was not enough as the Bobcats claimed a 70-59 victory.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Bates held the offensive advantage in live conversions, shooting 35% (21-60) of field goals and 31% (9-29) of three-pointers. Close behind, Amherst converted 26.3% (15-57) of field goals and 17.6% (6-34) of three-pointers. Amherst held a small advantage in foul shooting, netting 88.5% of attempts compared to Bates' 79.2%.
*Chin bucketed the most points of any player, notching 18 points. Garraud followed in second with 16 points, and Coyne behind him with 14.
*O'Leary had the most assists with 4. Senior Peter Psyhogeos had the most rebounds with 9.
