Courtesy of Bates College

LEWISTON, Maine – The sixth-ranked Amherst College men's basketball team pulled away from a 33-31 halftime lead to defeat Bates College by a score of 67-54 Friday evening at Alumni Gym. 

David Waller '12 made a three-pointer, a jumper and a dunk in the opening six minutes and went on to score a game-high 19 points for the Lord Jeffs (19-2, 7-0 NESCAC), who won their sixth straight game and remained in a two-way tie for first place in the NESCAC with top-ranked Middlebury. 

Waller followed his dunk by assisting on a layup by Peter Kaasila '13 for Amherst's first lead at 13-12. Bates tied the game four times over the remainder of the first period, but Amherst never trailed again.

Willy Workman '13 totaled 11 points, 10 rebounds and three steals for the Lord Jeffs, while Aaron Toomey '14 contributed nine points, seven rebounds and a game-high six assists. Jeff Holmes '12 came off the bench for eight points and 10 boards.

Bates senior John Squires posted his sixth double-double in the past seven games with 14 points and 12 boards. Mark Brust also scored 14 points for the Bobcats (10-9, 4-4 NESCAC), who slipped into sixth place in the NESCAC.

Bates' Luke Matarazzo made a pair of three-pointers in the first 3:18 for an 8-3 Bates lead, but the sophomore guard made only one shot in 11 attempts the rest of the way, finishing with eight points and a team-high four assists and two steals.

Amherst out-rebounded Bates by a 50-37 margin while holding the Bobcats to 32.3 percent shooting, including 22.9 percent (8-for-35) in the second half.

Bates held Amherst scoreless over the final two minutes of the first half, as Billy Selmon's three with 43 seconds left cut the Jeffs' lead to two points at intermission, 33-31.

Both teams' intense play continued in the second half, with Bates staying close to the favored visitors. A three-pointer by Graham Safford with 11:59 to play cut the Jeffs' edge to 47-42, but Holmes scored three straight buckets in the paint to bump the lead into double digits for the first time at 53-42 with 9:08 on the clock.

The buffer was all Amherst needed to hold Bates off the rest of the way, with the Bobcats getting no closer than nine points and trailing by no more than 13 over the final nine minutes of the contest.

The Lord Jeffs will close out their weekend road trip on Saturday when they take on Tufts University at 4 p.m.