AMHERST, Mass. -- Bobby Sommers poured in 13 points to lead a balanced attack as the Amherst College men's basketball team posted its second straight NESCAC victory with a dominant 59-36 decision over Bates in LeFrak Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. 

The Mammoths improved to 10-7, 2-2 in the conference, while the Bobcats fell to 2-13, 0-3 in NESCAC play. Amherst will host rival Williams Wednesday at 7 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* Amherst opened the game with a 10-2 run and never looked back. Charlie Randall, who scored a team-high 16 points in Friday's win over Tufts, opened the scoring with a lay-in from the paint. Mohammed Alausa then drove to the basket from the left baseline and laid one in. Marc Garraud followed with a steal, threw the ball under the hoop to Randall, who kicked it back out to a charging Will Scherer, who concluded the sequence with a thunderous dunk an a 6-0 lead. Ryker Vance scored a putback off his own miss minutes later and Drew Martin came up with a short jumper for the 10-2 lead.

* Bates cut the lead to 10-7 but Garraud stopped the visitors momentum in its tracks with a step back three-pointer from the left elbow. Amherst led 17-9 with just over four minutes remaining in the half when Sommers came up with a steal in his defensive end and went coast-to-coast for the lay-in and 10-point lead. A try from Chris Hammond from the right corner with 2:44 left made it 24-11 Amherst. With 95 seconds left, Garraud came up with another steal, fed the ball to Sommers on his right and Sommers dashed in for a gym-rattling dunk and a 28-14 lead that held up at the half. 

* Neither team could score for the opening 3:19 of the second half, but Randall tipped in a missed three-pointer while being fouled and sank the freebie for a 31-14 Amherst lead. Bates cut the deficit to 14 at 33-19, but a pair of free throws from Sommers, a dunk by Vance and a Garraud three-pointer with 14:04 left made it a 40-19 game and all but ended any mystery to the outcome. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Amherst had a whopping 56-33 edge on the glass, with Scherer leading the way with 20 rebounds. He finished with 10 points, 20 rebounds and 3 blocks. Randall had 9 points and 6 rebounds. Vance notched 8 points and 6 rebounds. Garraud had 6 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Hammond finished with 7 points. 

* The Mammoths held Bates to just 22.4 percent (13 of 58) shooting from the floor.