AMHERST, MA – A late 16-2 Mammoth drive, highlighted by 5 points from junior Marc Garraud, pushed the Amherst College men's basketball team into the lead to clinch a 65-62 victory over Tufts University in a narrow contest on Friday night at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Amherst improved to 16-5 overall and 5-2 in NESCAC play, while Tufts fell to 17-4 on the season and 6-2 in the conference. Up next, the Mammoths will host their final home game of the regular season against Connecticut College on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in LeFrak Gymnasium.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
*Senior Chris Hammond opened scoring for the Mammoths with a jumper from the paint in the opening 15 seconds to give Amherst a 2-0 lead.
*First-year K.J. Neville followed up two minutes later with a fadeaway three-pointer from the top of the arch at 17:45 remaining.
*With 12:24 remaining, senior James Morakis sank a three from the corner to equalize the game 12-12.
*Both sides traded buckets for the next four minutes until senior Drew Martin and Hammond partnered up to hit back-to-back threes between 8:34 and 7:50, pushing Amherst into the lead at 25-15.
*The Jumbos answered in the final two minutes with a 7-0 drive, highlighted by a three-pointer by first-year Ricardo Nieves, to give Tufts the one-point advantage at the buzzer, 32-31.
*Junior Dylan Reilly picked up where Tufts left off at the start of the second half, bucketing a layup on the visitors' second possession to make it 34-31 with 19:23 remaining.
*Amherst's offensive unit heated up between 16:31 and 9:47 as the Mammoths exploded into the lead with a 16-2 streak. Junior Zane Adnan and Garraud led off with two jumpers, which senior Drew Martin quickly followed with a three fed by sophomore Elias Chin. On Amherst's following possession, Garraud poured in three points with a layup and a free throw. The guard teamed up with Adnan in the final 90 seconds to each net threes and give Amherst their largest lead of the night, 53-40.
*Two three-pointers from senior Scott Gyimesi helped the Jumbos reduce the gap to 56-52 with 3:09 to play in the contest.
*Tufts threatened to retake the lead in the final seconds as junior Dylan Reilly bucketed an emphatic three-pointer with 9 seconds remaining to weaken Amherst's advantage to one point at 63-62. Strong defending from the Mammoths and two final free throws helped the Mammoths clinch the 65-62 victory.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Amherst had the offensive advantage, converting 41.5% (22-53) of field goals compared to Tufts' 37.3% (22-59), 43.5% (10-23) of three-pointers compared to 22.6% (7-31), and 78.6% (11-14) of free throws compared to 64.7% (11-17).
*Garraud was the game's leading scorer, netting 17. Gyimesi and Neville followed close behind, each bucketing 14 points.
*Martin netted double-double figures, adding 10 points and making 12 rebounds.
