AMHERST, Mass. – Senior
C.J. Mitchell notched a career-high 24 points for the Mammoths on Tuesday night, leading Amherst to a dominant 78-49 win over Springfield College as they hosted their first home game of the season.
The Pride fell to 1-4 on the season while Amherst rose to 2-1. The Mammoths will travel east to meet Rhode Island College this Thursday, where they will battle against the Anchormen at 7:30 p.m. in the Murray Center.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
*A sequence of four turnovers within the first three minutes caused trouble for the Mammoths early on, who found themselves down 8-2 after three minutes of play. Despite an 8-0 run by the Pride, Mitchell narrowed Springfield's lead after sinking a shot from behind the arc in the fourth minute.
*Amherst exploded into the lead midway through the first half, punching a 10-0 run highlighted by two three-pointers from Mitchell and two layups from Vance within three minutes. The Mammoths raced away on another 10-0 run two minutes later, where three-pointers from senior
Noah Helmke and junior
Drew Martin combined with jumpers from Martin and Mitchell to take the Mammoths up 30-16 with four minutes remaining in the stanza.
*An excellent team play closed the half for the Mammoths after senior
Will Scherer cut inside and found sophomore
Marc Garraud at the corner, who passed to junior
Drew Martin at the top of the arc. The forward pivoted left to find a wide-open Mitchell at the wing, who sunk his three-pointer to end the half 42-22 and netting the senior guard 14 points alone for Amherst.
*Back-to-back three-pointers from Mitchell and first-year
Elias Chin widened Amherst's advantage six minutes into the second stanza, pushing a 54-28 lead.
*An increase in fouls called against Amherst opened a chance for Springfield to narrow the Mammoths' lead, but the Pride struggled to convert their free throws, going 8-15 and making only 53.3% of their chances.
*Amherst kept its foot on the gas throughout the rest of the game, leading by as much as 27 with three minutes to go. Amherst's swarming defense, punctuated by strong blocks from Vance and senior
Will Scherer, left Springfield struggling to find the net up to the final buzzer.
*A series of three back-to-back layups from Chin in the final two minutes closed the game for the Mammoths, finishing 78-49.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Amherst ended the night with 46.9% shooting (30-64) compared to 29.1% (16-55) for Springfield College. The Mammoths also led in three-pointer conversions, 40% to 27.8%.
*Mitchell led as the game's top scorer, earning 24 points for Amherst, 14 of which were tallied in the first half. The guard went 7-10 for three pointers, going 5-7 in the first half. Chin and Pride player Jarron Flynn came second in scoring, each tallying 11 points.
