AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College men's basketball team concluded a perfect 14-0 regular season home record on Saturday, claiming an emphatic 73-54 victory over Connecticut College on Senior Day at LeFrak Gymnasium.
The Mammoths honored two seniors during the contest: senior Drew Martin and senior Chris Hammond.
Amherst improved to 17-5 overall and 6-2 in NESCAC play, while Conn College fell to a 16-7 record and a 4-5 showing in the conference. Up next, the Mammoths will hit the road to challenge Middlebury at Pepin Gymnasium, where they'll face the Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
*The Mammoths jumped out to an early 9-0 lead behind a strong effort from the senior duo of Hammond and Martin. Off Conn College's opening possession, Martin collected the defensive rebound, then drove pole-to-pole to eventually find Hammond. The guard drove toward the block to net a layup, then followed up two minutes later with a three-pointer from the wing fed by first-year Sherron Woodberry.
*First-year K.J. Neville kept things hot with 14:48 remaining, nailing a three from the top of the arch to extend Amherst's lead to 16-5.
*The Camels answered with a 7-2 streak between 8:22 and 7:00 to reduce the gap to 28-16. Junior Greg Cantwell poured in five straight points across the drive, tipping in a jumper and netting a three-pointer.
*Woodberry found junior Marc Garraud at the wing to nail a three-pointer as the shot clock expired at 1:51 to play, awarding Amherst with a twenty-point cushion over Conn College, 41-20.
*A final layup from Cantwell with 4 seconds left settled the contest to 41-25 heading into intermission.
*The Camels threatened to close the gap at the start of the half as senior Elias Espinosa bucketed seven straight points within two minutes to make it an eleven-point game at 43-32 and 17:55 to play. The forward led off the drive with a three-pointer, then filled in with two free throws before closing with a jumper from the paint.
*Both sides went back-and-forth over the next three minutes until Amherst regained its offensive confidence with a 7-0 drive highlighted by a Garraud layup and a Woodberry three-pointer.
*The Espinosa/Cantwell duo kept Conn College alive in the closing five minutes, netting a combined seven points to weaken Amherst's lead, but the effort was not enough to overcome the gap as two free throws from Woodberry closed the contest 73-54.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Amherst held the offensive advantage, shooting 53.2% (25-47) of field goals compared to Conn College's 30.6% (19-62), 40.9% (9-22) of three-pointers compared to 15.6% (5-32), and 87.5% (14-16) of free throws compared to 78.6% (11-14).
*Hammond and Cantwell tied as the game's leading scorers, each bucketing 15 points. Espinosa and Garraud followed behind with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Hammond also netted the most steals with 3.
*Both junior Dylan Watson and sophomore Elias Chin produced defensively for their teams, each notching 10 rebounds, the most of any other player.
