AMHERST, Mass. -- A late 10-point rally was not enough Saturday afternoon to overcome a 22-0 Wesleyan run earlier in the matchup, giving Wesleyan a 72-60 win over Amherst at LeFrak Gymnasium.
The Mammoths fell to 10-6 overall and 1-2 in the NESCAC, while Wesleyan remained unbeaten at 18-0 and 4-0 in the conference. The Mammoths will hit the road to face rival Williams on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Chandler Gym.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* The Mammoths blasted off on an early 7-0 run that took Amherst above Wesleyan 9-4 with 15:58 left in the half. Senior
C.J. Mitchell added a bucket with 17:07 remaining after sidestepping his guard at the top of the arc and pushing forward for a mid-range jumper. Just over one minute later, junior
Chris Hammond nailed his shot from behind the arc to give Amherst their first three-pointer of the afternoon.
* Both teams traded buckets for the next 10 minutes, with senior
Noah Helmke netting two vital three-pointers assisted by Hammond and Mitchell.
* As the final five minutes approached, the Cardinals broke away from Amherst with a punishing 13-0 run. As turnovers and personal fouls stalled Amherst's momentum, seniors Nicky Johnson and Shane Regan partnered up to score 6 and 7 points, respectively. The effort left a 15-point gap between the two sides, closing the half 44-29 in favor of Wesleyan.
* After continuing to go scoreless in a six-minute dry spell at the start of the second half, senior
Ryker Vance converted two free throws to give Amherst their first point of the stanza at 14:11 to play.
* Amherst regained their momentum from there, going on a 5-0 run between 13:35 and 12:55, highlighted by a layup from sophomore
Marc Garraud and a three-pointer from sophomore
Nate Pabis. The duo's buckets tightened the game to 53-36 with just under 13 minutes remaining.
* The Mammoths put their collective feet on the gas again in the 10 th minute, battling back with a three-pointer from first-year
Elias Chin and layups from Garraud and senior
Will Scherer to make it a 12-point game at 57-45 and 9:14 to play.
* Back-to-back buckets from senior
Bobby Sommers helped keep Amherst alive heading into the final seven minutes. Vance fed the ball to Sommers at the top of the arc to shoot for three at 7:38, and Chin lobbed the ball down the court 20 seconds later to find Sommers again for a driving layup.
* With 4:44 to go, Chin found Mitchell at the wing to drive home a three-pointer and take Amherst within 9 points of Wesleyan at 62-50.
* Late fouls gave Wesleyan the free throws they needed to maintain their lead for the rest of the game, scoring 7 points all from the line in the final minute.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Amherst held an advantage in field goal and three-pointer conversions, netting 39.6% (21-53) of field goals compared to 38.6% (22-57) from Wesleyan and scoring 36.8% of three-pointers compared to 20.7% from the Cardinals. Wesleyan held a significant lead in free throw attempts, making 81.5% compared to 64.7% from the Mammoths.
* Regan led as the game's leading scorer, notching 29 points for Wesleyan. Helmke was Amherst's top scorer with 10 points. Vance had the most rebounds of any player, catching 10, and Scherer was close behind with 8 rebounds.
