MEMPHIS - The Rhodes College Lynx held the third-ranked Amherst College Lord Jeffs to season-low in both points (69) and field goal percentage (44.4%) as they outscored the visitors, 40-29, in the second half for a 76-69 upset at Mallory Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
The Lynx were terrific from the field, shooting 27-for-56 (48.2%) and 9-of-16 (56.3%) from deep including a 4-for-4 day from junior Brennan Sullivan. The Lynx held Amherst, who shot 54% the day before in Mallory Gym, to 28-for-63 from the field and 7-for-22 (31.8%) from deep. The Lynx had eight steals on the day as their tenacious defense forced 14 turnovers.
Amherst's potent offense was clicking early on, racing out to a 27-19 lead as Rhodes hit big shots to stay within distance. The Lynx began to play their game, using tough defense to harass the Lord Jeff shooters. During that time, the Rhodes offense put together a 10-0 run led by multiple scorers to take their first lead since 2-0.
The Lord Jeffs responded with an 8-0 run of their own to grab the lead back at 35-29. Rhodes would get bucket by Sullivan and junior Daniel Galvin to inch closer to Amherst and trail 40-36 going into halftime.
In the second half, Rhodes continued to rev up the pressure defensively, holding Amherst to 11-for-30 (36.7%) from the field throughout the half.
At the midway point of the second half, Amherst clung to a 56-53 lead, consistently fending Rhodes rallies. However, a 10-2 run by the Lynx, led in part by Galvin and Sullivan gave the Lynx to a 63-58 lead with a little over six minutes remaining.
Amherst looked to respond, but back-to-back three pointers from Sullivan kept the Lynx ahead by six, 69-63, with four minutes to play.
Rhodes got big points in the paint from Galvin and junior Tyler Gee and used tremenodus defense and free throw shooting to salt away the final four minutes and complete the huge upset.
Sullivan finished with 17 points, going 5-for-7 from the field to go with his perfect shooting from deep. Galvin added 14 points and seven boards while Gee earned a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. Freshman Daniel Darst was excellent off the bench for the second straight game, going for 12 points and seven boards.
Sophomore Keyshawn Butts had a tremendous game defensively, finishing with five steals and also added five assists. Junior JJ Weir hit a pair of threes, finish with eight points and three assists.
For Amherst, Connor Green led teh way with 15 points while Jeff Racy added 14 points, including three field goals from downtown.
With the win, Rhodes moves to 7-5 on the season as they prepare to go back into Southern Athletic Association play, where they currently sit at 1-0.The Lynx will hit the road on Friday as they head to Danville, Ky. to take on Centre College. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT.