AMHERST, MA – The 9th-ranked Amherst College men's basketball team opened up NESCAC play this evening against the visiting Cardinals of Wesleyan University. Amherst avenged their only loss of the season with a 76-46 victory to improve to 12-1 on the year, and 1-0 in conference play, while Wesleyan dropped to 4-9 (0-1) with the loss. 

On January 6, Amherst suffered its only loss of the season at Wesleyan, as a last second three from Jeremy Kaminer lifted the Cardinals to a 72-69 victory. The Lord Jeffs looked to make a statement this evening, and came out firing. 

Amherst took an early 7-3 lead on a three from junior Steven Wheeler (Bloomington, MN), before senior co-captains Mike Holsey (Potomac, MD) and Brian Baskauskas (Palo Alto, CA) opened the lead to eight points on back-to-back scores. 

Wheeler drilled another three from the left wing with 13:35 to play in the half to open up a 16-5 lead for the Lord Jeffs. On the following pair of possessions, Holsey rejected a Cardinal lay-up with an emphatic block, and then finished off an Amherst fast break with a transition score. 

A pair of David Maltz free throws closed Amherst's lead down to 23-9 with 10:55 to play in the half. Neither team scored for over two minutes, until a Kevin Scura lay-in closed Amherst's margin to 23-11. Baskauskas responded for the Jeffs with a three from the right corner, before Scura nailed a triple of his own from the top of the key. 

Amherst's lead grew back to 15 points at the 6:45 mark, when senior Marcus Bradley (Latham, NY) pulled up for a three from at least five feet beyond the arc. The deep triple put the Jeffs up 29-14 and forced Wesleyan to use a timeout. After the stoppage, Amherst first-year Taylor Barrise (Allendale, NJ) got into the scoring mix with Amherst's sixth three of the half. 

Late in the first half, Amherst's advantage went above the 20-point mark on a put-back by Baskauskas. Amherst closed the half on a 13-0 run, taking a 47-18 lead into locker room. At the break, Amherst was led by Baskauskas with 13 points, Barrise with 12 points and Wheeler with nine points, while Jason Mendell paced the Cardinals with six points. 

After five minutes of second-half play, Amherst held a 52-26 lead, before first-year David Waller (Tampa, FL) traded baskets with Wesleyan's Stan Grayson. Amherst head coach David Hixon '75 went to a very young line-up in the second half, with three first-years and a pair of sophomores playing very well together. 

With 7:47 to play, Amherst's lead had dropped back down to 20 points at 58-38 as Wesleyan held a 20-13 edge in second-half scoring. Down the stretch Amherst played as many as four rookies at one time, cruising to a 76-46 victory.

Despite seeing very little time in the second half, Baskauskas was Amherst's leading scorer with 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting. First-year Jeff Holmes (Saunderstown, RI) pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, while Barrise finished with a dozen points. Wesleyan was led by Mendell with 13 points in the losing effort.

Amherst will host Conn College tomorrow at 3 p.m., while Wesleyan will continue their road trip with a game at Trinity College.

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