Amherst, Mass. - Senior Aaron Toomey scored 36 points to lead the top-seeded Amherst College men's basketball team to an 80-62 win over the visiting Trinity College Bantams in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Semifinal action this afternoon at LeFrak Gymnasium.  Amherst improves to 23-3 and advances to the finals tomorrow at noon against Williams.  The Bantams finish with their best record since winning the league title in 2008 at 15-11.
 
Trinity fell victim to a hot-shooting Amherst team that shot 11-24 (45.8%) from behind the arc.  Toomey shot 8-of-16 from the field, 6-of-11 from behind-the-arc and a perfect 14-of-14 from the free throw line. He also dished out four assists and finished with six rebounds.  The Bantams were led by junior co-captain center George Papadeas (Athens, Greece) with a team-high 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting and a 7-of-8 clip from the charity stripe. Papadeas also pulled in a team-high nine boards and blocked two shots, while sophomore guard Jaquann Starks (Hartford, Conn.) scored 12 points, and junior guard Hart Gliedman (New York, N.Y.) and sophomore forward Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) posted nine and eight points, respectively.  David George blocked seven shot for the Lord Jeff's.
 
Racing out to a fast start, Trinity built a six-point lead over the first three minutes, going up 10-4 on a pair of Ajayi free throws. Battling back, Amherst pieced together a 16-10 run over the next 5:04, tying the game at 20 on a Kalema triple.  With the game still knotted at 23-23, Alex Levine gave the home team its first lead of the game with a free throw at 8:39. Trinity responded with an 8-3 run to rebuild a five-point cushion, but the Jeffs scored nine of the contest's next 10 points, pulling ahead 35-32 on Toomey's fourth trey of the half.  Joseph Mussachia  knocked down a jumper from the left elbow to put the home team back in front at 38-36, after a jumper by junior forward Alex Conaway (New Haven, Conn.) had tied it. Amherst scored the next six points, before Conaway hit another jumper with six seconds left, and Trinity trailed, 43-38, entering the locker room.  Amherst came out strong in the second half. Following consecutive lay-ups from Green and Killian within 1:14 of play, the Jeffs held a nine point lead. At the 17:07 mark, Killian connected on a three-pointer to give them their first double-digit lead of the game, 50-39.  Amherst added to their lead as the game progressed, finishing with an 18-point advantage.