SPRINGFIELD - The Amherst College men's basketball team held off a spirited rally by Westfield State to topple the Owls, 79-62, in the Pioneer Valley Classic on Saturday afternoon at SC's Blake Arena.

The Lord Jeffs, who are currently ranked third in the nation, improve to 6-0 on the season, while the Owls drop to 5-2.

Amherst was once again led by sophomore guard Aaron Toomey (Greensboro, N.C.) with 20 points. Three others scored in double figures for the Lord Jeffs. They included junior guard Willy Workman (Northampton, Mass.) with 16, senior guard Taylor Barrise (Allendale, N.J.) with 14, and senior guard/forward David Waller (Tampa, Fla.) with 10. Workman also had a game-high 10 rebounds and three assists.

Westfield State was led by junior guard Lee Vazquez (Attleboro, R.I.) with 25 points. He also had seven rebounds, three assists, and four steals. The only other double-figure scorer for the Owls included 6-7 junior center Matt Devine (Pembroke, Mass.) with 11 points. Devine also had two blocks.

The Lord Jeffs raced out to an early 14-4 lead after Toomey buried a deep three at the 16:02 mark. An inside bucket by senior center Ryan DeLosa (Leeds, N.Y.) brought the Owls within six just under a minute later, But Amherst proved to be too strong as they blew open the game with a 15-2 run over the next seven-plus minutes to take a 29-10 lead.

The Lord Jeffs, who were able to turn 14 Westfield State turnovers into 19 points, went into the locker room up 24, 46-22.

Elms Defeats Springfield, 69-59
Despite a game-high 25 points from Alex Berthiaume, the Springfield College men's basketball team dropped a 69-59 decision to visiting Elms College in the Pioneer Valley Classic on Saturday evening.

Elms improves to 2-3 win the win, while Springfield dropped its second-straight game to fall to 5-2.

Springfield owned a five-point lead at the 11:21 mark after a Josh Altman three-pointer made the score 18-13.

The Blazers responded with an 9-0 run over the next 2:09, highlighted by five points from French, to gain a 22-18 advantage. The visitors lead would grow to as much as nine (28-19), but the Pride was able to battle back to get within five on a pair of occasions. Elms would eventually head into the intermission with a 32-26 lead.