Men's Basketball Edged By No. 3 Amherst, 73-67
MEN'S BASKETBALL EDGED BY NO. 3 AMHERST, 73-67
CHICOPEE, MA, Jan. 15, 2008 - Amherst College senior forward Fletcher Walters (Ann Arbor, MI) registered a double-double with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds and senior guard Andrew Olson (San Diego, CA) added 16 points to help the No. 3 Lord Jeffs edges Elms College 73-67 in a non-conference men's basketball game on Tuesday night at the Maguire Center.
The Lord Jeffs extended their win streak to four straight and improved to 11-2 overall.
The Blazers, who were trying to earn their first win over a nationally-ranked opponent, fell for the fourth time in five games to dip to 9-5. Tuesday's game also marked the second game against a D3hoops.com nationally-ranked opponent for Elms College, which was narrowly nipped in overtime at home eight days ago by No. 2 Brandeis, 96-94.
Olson, who also finished with a game-high seven assists, became the 22nd player in program-history to score 1,000 points when he drained a pair of free throws in the game's closing seconds.
Junior guard Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT) dropped in 16 points, including 3 of 4 shooting from 3-point range, sophomore point guard Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) finished with 15 points and junior forward Ronald Thomas (Chicago, IL) added a season-high 13 points in just 20 minutes to all reach double figures for the Blazers in the loss.
The host Blazers jumped out to a 16-14 lead with 5:44 left in the opening half before the Lord Jeffs closed the half with a 15-7 run to grab a 29-23 lead at intermission.
Amherst then roared out of the gates with a 7-2 run in the first two minutes of the second half that included a 3-pointer by Walters, a jumper by senior forward Brandon Jones (Hopatcong, NJ) and a dunk by senior center Kevin Hopkins (Greenfield Center, NY). The run gave the Lord Jeffs what stood as their largest lead of the night at 36-25.
The Blazers, however, battled their way back throughout the second half and pulled to within 61-60 on a layup by Galdon with 3:11 remaining.
Amherst pulled back ahead 64-60 over the next 86 seconds following a free throw by junior forward Brian Baskauskas (Palo Alto, CA) and another dunk by Hopkins.
Although Galdon answered with a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 64-62 with 1:17 remaining, Olson and Jones combined to go a perfect 6 for 6 from the free throw line of the game's final 27 seconds to help the Lord Jeffs escape.
Jones finished with 14 points and nine rebounds as the third player to reach double figures for Amherst.
Junior forward Malakie Berry (Enfield, CT) provided the Blazers with a solid effort, as he finished with nine points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes.
Amherst returns to action when it hosts Tufts in its New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) opener on Friday, January 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Elms College next plays when it hosts Becker in a North Atlantic Conference (NAC) game on Saturday, January 19 at 1:00 p.m.