WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Amherst College used a strong first half, and a stellar performance on the glass to help pace the 14th-ranked Purple & White to a 71-50 victory over NESCAC and Little III rival Williams College Wednesday evening in non-league action in Williamstown, Mass.

RECORDS
Amherst (15-3)
Williams (12-7)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Amherst, which held a strong, 41-26 advantage at halftime, shot 41.4% from the field and 87.5% from the free throw line en route to a 21-point, 71-50 victory over Williams.
• Jayde Dawson '18 led all players in scoring with 17 points, while Johnny McCarthy '18 and David George '17 followed with 16 and 12 points respectively. Dawson and McCarthy each canned three triples, while Connor Green '16 added a trey and finished with seven points in the winning effort.
• The Purple & White held a 43-33 margin in rebounding, as McCarthy, George and Green each grabbed nine boards, while Michael Riopel '18 dished out four assists to lead the visitors.
• Williams was led by Cole Teal and Daniel Aronowitz who tallied 15 and 13 points respectively, while Aronowitz was equally efficient on the glass with a team-high seven rebounds. The Ephs were held to just 31.6% shooting from the field, 16.7% shooting from long range, and 66.7% efficiency from the charity stripe.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• McCarthy set the tone for the contest cashing in on a quick three-pointer on the first possession of the game, and George powered in a pair of layups to give Amherst an early, 7-0 lead.
• The Purple & White extended their lead to 18 (32-14) following a swish from three-point range by Dawson at the 6:42 mark, before Williams rallied for eight straight points capped by a Teal layup with 2:35 to play in the half to set the score at 32-22.
• A pair of free throws by Jeff Racy '17 and George, followed by a Green trey, and a Dawson jumper with five seconds left, allowed Amherst to take a 41-26 lead into the halftime break.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• In the second half, McCarthy downed another three-pointer at the 17:09 mark to push the Purple & White lead to 20 (48-28), and a bucket in the paint by Riopel with 13:11 on the clock gave the visitors their largest lead of the game (23 points) and set the score to 54-31.
• Dawson finished with nine second half points as Amherst closed out its 71-50 victory, never letting Williams get closer than 15 points in the second period.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Amherst has now defeated its NESCAC and Little III rival twice this season, and five of the last seven times the teams have squared off dating back to the 2013-14 season.

UP NEXT

• Amherst closes out its five-game road trip Saturday, Jan. 30 at Trinity College for a 3 p.m. tilt in Hartford, Conn.
• Williams is back in action February 1 when it hosts Maine-Fort Kent at 2 p.m. in non-conference play.