AMHERST – Three Jeffs scored in double-figures as the second-ranked Amherst College men’s basketball team defeated non-conference opponent Westfield State Tuesday night, 78-67.
With the win, the Jeffs improve to 4-0 on the year and 3-0 at home. The Owls to 5-3 overall.
Westfield was led by four players in double-digit scoring. Grant Cooper went 7-of-12 from the floor for a game-high 18 points and pulled in eight boards. Jesus Sanchez scored 14, and Dan Tessier and Andre King added 11 each.
Connor Green led Amherst with 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds while blocking four shots. Johnny McCarthy finished with 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting and Jayde Dawson added 10. David George pulled in a game-high 10 rebounds and Reid Berman dished out a game-high five assists.
Both teams came out hot from downtown to open the game as Green put Amherst ahead 3-0 at the 19:02 mark. Three minutes later, King hit one from behind-the-arc to give the visitor’s their first lead of the game, ahead 6-3.
King’s three sparked a series of five straight from both teams as Dawson put Amherst back up, 9-6. However, Westfield State hit back-to-back to regain an edge.
At the 8:15 mark, Cooper got fouled on a lay-up but missed the free throw. On the Owls next possession, he went back to the line and hit 1-of-2 to give the visitors their largest lead of the game, 19-14. However, it was short-lived as Michael Riopel ’18 hit a three-pointer nine seconds later, and Eric Conklin ’17 registered a lay-up on the Jeffs ensuing possession to knot the game at 19.
Following a Westfield State turnover, Berman found Conklin down low as the sophomore gave the Jeffs their first lead since the 14:52 mark. Just over two minutes later, McCarthy knocked down a three-pointer to increase the lead to eight as Amherst eventually went into the break with a 33-28 lead.
The Jeffs maintained the lead early in the second half and at the 15:04 mark, McCarthy grabbed a rebound, drove the length of the court, and hit a pretty floater in the lane to give Amherst its first double-digit lead of the game, up 44-34.
After a Jeff miss, Robby Jones quickly brought the ball down the court and pulled up from inside the paint to hit the jumper, cutting the deficit to six with 9:09 remaining in regulation. On the following possession, the Owls forced a turnover and a foul as Jones went to the line and hit two as Westfield State trailed, 50-46.
After a McCarthy block, the Jeffs came right back down the court as Green drove to the lane and dished it to a cutting Conklin as he laid it up. However, the Owls connected on back-to-back and-one opportunities as the home team held a 54-52 lead with 6:54 to go.
After connecting on yet another and-one, the visitor’s cut the deficit to one 30 seconds later. However, back-to-back three-pointers by Riopel and Green with less than five to play pulled Amherst ahead by seven.
