Las Vegas, NV – The Amherst College men's basketball team was held off by Whittier College in a defensive contest that settled 70-67 on Saturday night at South Point Arena in the D3Hoops.com Classic.
Amherst fell to a 7-2 record while Whittier improved to 8-2 overall. The Mammoths will remain in the tournament to face Ohio Northern at 9 p.m. on Sunday at South Point Arena.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
*Back-to-back jumpers from junior Jonathan Duley and junior Sean Cervantes put the Poets ahead 4-0 with 17:47 to play.
*Following five minutes of back-and-forth action, junior Marc Garraud stole the ball and drove down the court before handing off to junior Nate Pabis, who bucketed a turn-around jumper to make it a one-point game at 11-10.
*With 8:30 remaining, first-year Sherron Woodberry received the ball from Garraud at the left wing, netting a three-pointer to close the gap to 18-13.
*One minute later, sophomore Elias Chin poured in five points with a left-flank three-pointer and a layup to make it 21-18.
*Senior Jaden Mathias punished the Mammoths with back-to-back three-pointers at 2:47 and 2:22. At 1:47 remaining, Mathias found senior Bryce Whitaker open at the right flank of the arch to score Whittier's third-straight three-pointer and help close the half 40-31 in favor of the Poets.
*Woodberry and Chin partnered up to open the second half for the Mammoths, netting a three-pointer and a jumper respectively to make it 42-36 with 18:42 to play.
*Chin fed to Woodberry behind the arch, who dribbled into the paint and bucketed a jumper to weaken Whittier's lead to 47-42 with 15:21 remaining.
*Between 12:19 and 11:06, first-year K.J. Neville tipped in seven points with two layups and three successful free throws to reduce the gap to 53-51.
*The Poets grouped together to distance themselves from the Mammoths in the following five minutes. On a feed to the block from junior Brandon Andrews, junior Tochi Onyeador slammed home a dunk at 6:27 remaining to extend Whittier's lead to 62-54.
*A layup and an emphatic dunk from Adnan put Amherst within two points of the Poets at 69-67 with 37 seconds remaining, but strong defense and a Whitaker free throw closed the game in Whittier's favor, 70-67.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*The Poets held the offensive advantage, leading 46.6% (26-57) to 38.8% (26-67) in field goal conversions and 39.1% (9-23) to 20.7% (6-29) in three-pointer conversions. Both sides converted 64% of free throw attempts.
*Chin and Duley were the game's top scorers, each netting 18. Neville followed close behind, scoring 17.
