Men's Basketball Topped by No. 2 Amherst, 74-67

PAXTON, Mass.—The Lord Jeffs of Amherst College overcame a 12-point deficit to down the Anna Maria College men's basketball team 74-67 in the home opener for the AMCATS in Tuesday evening's non-conference game.

With the loss, the AMCATS fall to 1-2 on the season, while the win marks the first for the Lord Jeffs, who made an NCAA Final Four appearance last season.

Sophomore Trevon Farley (Lawrence, Mass.) posted a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds for Anna Maria. The team was paced offensively by Quantez Franklin's (South Yarmouth, Mass.) game-high 21 points, while Hugh Daye (Worcester, Mass.) chipped in with 16. Senior point guard Michael Gorman (Methuen, Mass.) dished out six assists.

Amherst had five different players reach double-digits in the points column, led by Johnny McCarthy (Medfield, Mass.) with 17. Jeff Racy (Ridgefield, Conn.) chipped in with 12, while David George (Philadelphia, Pa.), Connor Green (Bedford, N.H.) and Reid Berman (Winnetka, Ill.) all tallied 11 points each.

The Lord Jeffs led for most of the first half, but the AMCATS never allowed the visitors more than a seven-point advantage. With under two minutes left to play, Franklin and Farley combined for back-to-back baskets to tie the score for the fifth time of the half at 36-36. A layup by Franklin with 48 seconds would give the AMCATS a two point lead heading into halftime.

Both teams would trade baskets in the early minutes of the second half until the AMCATS strung together a 12-0 run spanning nearly four minutes to lead 52-40 with 14:01 remaining in the game. Two minutes later, Anna Maria took their biggest lead of the day, a 14-point advantage, on a fast-break dunk by Franklin.

The dunk would prove to be the apex for the AMCATS, who were then silenced on the scoreboard as the Lord Jeffs built an 18-0 run to erase Anna Maria's lead and give Amherst a 60-56 lead with 5:48 left to play. The AMCAT would make a final pitch a minute-and-a-half later when they tied the score at 62-62 following a layup by Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.), but the Lord Jeffs responded with a three-pointer by McCarthy on their next trip down the floor.

Forced to foul for possession as time wound down, the AMCATS put the Lord Jeffs on the line four times in the final 1:30, giving room for Amherst to claim the seven-point victory, 74-67.

Anna Maria outscored Amherst 50-36 in the point and held a 23-11 advantage in points off turnovers. The Lord Jeffs held a 19-8 advantage in second-chance points, while the AMCATS scored 16 of their points on the fast break. Amherst received a staggering 30 points from their bench, while Anna Maria's bench contributed 17 points.

The AMCATS shot at 41.8 percent (28-67) from the floor but hit just two of 14 three-pointer attempts on the day. Amherst shot 43.3 percent from the floor (26-60) and hit six of 19 (31.6%) three-point attempts.

Anna Maria returns to action on Friday, November 21 when it travels to crosstown rival Becker for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.