cMIDDLEBURY, VT. -- Chris Hammond and Will Scherer scored 10 points each Saturday afternoon but it wasn't enough as the Amherst College men's basketball team suffered a 70-56 loss NESCAC rival Middlebury College's Pepin Gym. 

Amherst fell to 8-7 overall and 0-2 in conference play. Middlebury improved to 6-8 overall, 1-1 in the NESCAC.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* Middlebury led nearly the entire first half, but never by more than nine. The Mammoths trailed 24-15 with 7:06 left in the half, but a three-pointer from Chris Hammond quickly cut the deficit to six. Amherst denied Middlebury on three straight possessions and cut its deficit to four when Hammond converted a lay-up off an assist from Giovanni Tam.

* With 2:21 to Mohammed Alausa scored a lay-up and Marc Garraud followed with a big steal that led to a trey by Hammond which cut the Middlebury lead to 28-27 with 1:59 remaining. After a Noah Osher three-ball put Middlebury up by four, Garraud hit a floater in the paint with three seconds left to send the Mammoths into the locker room at halftime down 31-29. 

* The Mammoths came out of the locker room scoring 11 of the initial 16 points to take a 40-36 lead with 13:43 to go in the contest. Jumpers by C.J. Mitchell and Hammond tied the game at 33 71 seconds into the second stanza, and a lay-up from Alausa gave Amherst a lead at 35-33 with 18:28 left. An offensive rebound by Will Scherer led to another Mitchell jumper. With 13:43 to go, Scherer followed up his own miss with a putback for the 40-36 lead. 

* A Dan Schlakman jumper with 11:39 remaining gave Amherst its last lead at 42-40. From there Middlebury would go on a 12-0 run and take a 50-42 lead with 7:36 left. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Scherer and Hammond led the Mammoths with 10 points each, while Bobby Sommers added nine. Scherer added a team-high 14 rebounds for a double-double. 

* The Mammoths shot just 16 percent (4 of 25) from beyond the arc while Middlebury was 41.7 percent (10 of 24) from the three-point line.