Friday: NESCAC joins the fun

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Jan 08, 2016
Hannah Hackley scored 21 in Amherst's lopsided win at Williams.
 Amherst athletics file photo

NESCAC play began Friday night with both ranked teams at Amherst and Tufts sweeping their opponents.

On the women's side, No. 2 Amherst blitzed No. 18 Williams 80-44 in a game that was decided early. The Lord Jeffs (11-0, 1-1) jumped out to a 12-2 lead midway through the first quarter and held Williams (10-2, 0-1) to three points in the second quarter. Williams committed 38 turnovers and was outscored 40-18 in the paint. The teams will play again at Amherst in a non-conference game on January 27.

No. 14 Tufts withstood a late rally at No. 22 Bowdoin and avenged its earlier loss to the Polar Bears, 53-50. The Jumbos (10-2, 1-0) led 49-36 with 7:28 remaining but Bowdoin (9-3, 0-1) outscored them 14-1 over the next six minutes to pull within one. Tufts held the Polar Bears to just two field goal attempts, both missed 3-pointers, the rest of the way. The teams split their regular season series but only tonight's game counts in the NESCAC standings.

On the men's side No. 9 Amherst held off archrival Williams 78-66 at LeFrak Gymnasium. The Lord Jeffs shot 43 percent from three (12-for-28) and committed only five turnovers. Jeff Racy and Connor Green scored 16 points each for Amherst (11-1, 1-0). Edward Flynn scored 16 for the Ephs (8-4, 0-1).

The Tufts men scored 58 first-half points and crushed Bowdoin 102-69. Vincent Pace led the way with 25 points, including five 3-pointers, for the 22nd ranked Jumbos (10-2, 1-0).

Baruch got a big lift from its reserves and the Bearcats knocked off No. 24 Brooklyn, 97-89. Baruch's bench outscored Brooklyn's 48-8, led by Doyin Isaac (24 points, eight rebounds). Jamel Gist scored 30 points for the Bulldogs, who know trail Lehman by one game in the CUNYAC standings. Recap

The SCAC had a pair of tight games decided late. Ryan Ogden made two free throws with four seconds left to lift Southwestern over Austin, 86-85. The Kangaroos have dropped their first two conference games after going 10-0 in non-conference play. Zach Behr's layup with five seconds left was the difference in Texas Lutheran's 73-72 win over University of Dallas. 

Bard stayed perfect in Liberty League play with a 54-53 win at Clarkson. DeVahnte Mosley shot 8-for-10 from the field and scored 21 points for the Raptors who notched their first win ever over the Golden Knights.

Back on the women's side, Birmingham-Southern stayed perfect with a 55-44 win at Berry. Jasmynn Batts posted 13 points and six rebounds for the Panthers (11-0, 2-0 SAA). Hendrix also stayed hot by winning at Sewanee, 69-49. The Warriors have won 10 of their last 11 games and will play the Panthers twice, first on Jan. 31.

On the west coast, No. 2 Whitworth held Pacific to just two points over the final 6:03 and edged away to a 62-50 win vs. the Boxers. Matt Staudacher had a game-high 13 points and Kenny Love had seven assists as the Pirates improved to 13-0, 4-0 in the Northwest Conference. Elsewhere in the NWC, Vince Romeo came off the bench to score a game-high 26 and lead Linfield past Pacific Lutheran 53-51. The Wildcats held PLU (9-3, 2-1) to 8-for-28 shooting in the first half and 17-for-52 for the game in the win.