No. 6 Amherst College Bests Men’s Basketball, 79-63

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Elms College sophomore forward Kenneth Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) scored a team-high 12 points and the Blazers trailed by just four points at halftime, but Amherst College, ranked sixth nationally, received a game-high 32-point effort from Aaron Toomey (Greensboro, N.C.) including a sensational 7 of 10 from three-point range, to help lift the Lord Jeffs to a 79-63 victory in game one of the Pioneer Valley Classic hosted by Westfield State University on Friday evening.

With the loss, Elms moves to 1-4 on the season, while Amherst remains unbeaten and improves to 5-0 overall.

The opening stanza, Amherst ran its lead to as many as six on four different occasions, but Elms kept the game close using a three-pointer from freshman guard Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.), who totaled five first half points, and received a six-point first half from senior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) as the Lord Jeffs posted a 33-29 lead at intermission.

Senior forward Jamal Hulum (Norfolk, Va.) led four Blazers with four points in the half and added six rebounds off the bench, while seniors David McDaniel (Plainfield, N.J.) and Carson Miller (New Oxford, Pa.), and junior forward Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) added four points each.

Toomey shot 3 of 6 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes en route to a team-best 10 points, followed by Willy Workman (Northampton, Mass.), David Kalema (Burke, Va.) and Tom Killian (Summit, N.J.) who each registered five points.

In the second half, Toomey swished a trey to give the Lord Jeffs their largest lead of the contest to that point, and another strike from beyond the arc at the 14:39 mark, this one in response to a trey by Elms' sophomore guard Piere Simpson (East Hartford, Conn.), Amherst used a 19-10 run over an eight minute span to set the score at 63-49.

French canned a triple with 5:54 to play to pull the Blazers to within 11 (63-52), but Workman delivered a three-pointer of his own and after buckets from Toomey and Peter Kaasila (Plaistow, N.H.), Toomey drilled his seventh trey of the contest with 3:18 remaining in the game to give the Lord Jeffs their largest advantage of the game at 73-52.

Toomey was a stellar 10 of 16 from the field, 7 of 10 from three-point range and a perfect 5 of 5 from the charity stripe, and dished out three assists and collected six boards to compliment his 32 points.

Workman connected on 6 of 7 from the free throw line and was 5 of 12 from the field en route to 17 points and also hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds, followed by Killian who collected 10 points and six rebounds.

Workman added three blocks and two assists, while Ben Pollack (Farmington, Conn.) secured eight rebounds off the pine.

French finished with 10 points and two steals in the losing effort, and McDaniel and Miller added eight points each. Hulum was superb on the glass recording nine rebounds, followed by Miller's seven boards.

Simpson and senior guard Charles Bason (Baltimore, Md.) dished out a game-high four assists each in the loss, while Hulum, Lockett and Simpson each registered a blocked shot.

Elms returns to Pioneer Valley Classic action on Saturday, December 1 when it takes on tournament host Westfield State at 8:00 p.m. Amherst will play Springfield College at 6:00 p.m.