MEDFORD - Junior Connor Green and the Amherst College men's basketball team shot the lights out from three-point range in a 92-66 victory at Tufts in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Championship Saturday afternoon at Cousens Gym.
Green made six of eight three-pointers and finished with a game-high 29 points. Amherst was 13 for 19 overall on threes (68.4 percent). Sophomore David George provided inside help with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Amherst finished the game shooting 56.4 percent from the field (31/55) and 89.5 percent from the line (17/19). They were also +16 in rebounds (44-28).
Senior tri-captain Ben Ferris, playing his final game at Tufts, led the Jumbos with 14 points while adding two assists with two steals. Sophomore Tom Palleschi finished with 13 points, six rebounds and five blocks.
The Lord Jeffs (19-6), seeded fifth, move into the conference semi-final round next Saturday (Feb. 28) where they will play Bowdoin at Trinity. Tufts saw its season come to a close with a 13-12 mark.
The Lord Jeffs made eight out of 10 three-point attempts in the first half, including three by Green. Six Lord Jeffs had threes overall in the opening 20 minutes. Amherst shot 58.1 percent overall (18/31) for the period as they took a 53-37 lead.
Green scored the first nine points for Amherst, but the game was tied 11-11 following a jumper by Palleschi. However, the visitors went on a 14-0 run from there and led 25-11 on George's jumper at 10:33. Freshman Johnny McCarthy led the stretch with seven points.
The Amherst lead hit 20 points twice in the half, including 49-29 on another Green three with 2:21 to go until intermission. He had 14 at the break to lead the Lord Jeffs.
With 13 points by Palleschi and 11 from Ferris, the Jumbos were fortunate to be within 16 at the break. They had 10 offensive rebounds (three by Palleschi) and 15 second-chance points.
The closest the Jumbos would get in the second half was 16 points, including 63-47 following a lay-up by freshman Ben Engvall at the 13-minute mark. However, the Lord Jeffs would put it away by scoring the next 15 points to take a 78-47 advantage with 6:53 on the clock. Green was central to the run with two threes and 10 points.
The Lord Jeffs earned revenge for a 27-point home loss to Tufts during the regular season on January 16.
Sophomore point guard Reid Berman totaled 11 assists and just one turnover for Amherst. McCarthy added 10 pionts, eight rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Jeff Racy contributed eight points.
Junior tri-captain Stephen Haladyna scored eight points for Tufts while sophomore Hunter Sabety had seven points and six rebounds. Freshman Vincent Pace added six points and three steals. Tufts turned the ball over only three times.
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