Amherst, Mass.--Amherst College rallied from an early deficit and outscored Rhode Island College, 53-26, in the second half to secure a convincing, 88-51, non-conference victory in men's basketball action played at LeFrak Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

Ranked 11^th in the country, Amherst (17-3) trailed early, with a layup by sophomore guard Johnny McCarthy (Medfield, MA) trimming the host's deficit down to one, 13-12, with 10:57 remaining in the stanza.

The Anchormen (4-16) would extend their advantage to three on the next trip down the court when freshman center Jason Jones (Roxbury, MA) buried a layup off a feed from freshman guard Jimmy Fritzson (Sharon, MA).  That would be one of the last times the Anchormen held the lead in the contest as Amherst was able to use a 23-10 run over the final 9:38 of the first half to secure a 10-point, 35-25 advantage at the break.

RIC shot 26.3 percent (10-for-38) from the field in the half, while Amherst shot a scorching 50.0 percent (15-for-30) as a team.

The Anchormen began slowly chipping away in the early portions of the second half, with a made three-pointer by sophomore guard Roosevelt Shider (Meriden, CT) cutting the deficit back down to nine, 50-41, with 11:45 remaining in the game. Amherst buckled down on the defensive end, while upping its offensive output, outscoring the Anchormen, 38-10, over the final 11:45 to turn a close game into a 37-point blowout victory for the hosts.  

RIC was held to 27.8 percent (20-for-72) shooting from the floor, 19.0 percent (4-for-21) from downtown and 50.0 percent (7-for-14) from the charity stripe for the game. Freshman forward Justin Campbell (New Haven, CT) led the way offensively, scoring 10 points and shooting 50.0 percent (5-of-10) from the field off the bench. Shider ranked second on the squad, scoring nine points and pulling down two rebounds. Jones contributed seven points and grabbed six rebounds in defeat.

Amherst shot a blistering 53.3 percent (32-for-60) from the field, 44.8 percent (13-for-29) from three-point range and 68.8 percent (11-for-16) from the free throw line. Senior guard Connor Green (Bedford, NH) led all scorers with 21 points to go along with nine rebounds. McCarthy also had a big game for Amherst, scoring 11 points, grabbing three boards and dishing out five assists in the victory.

In upcoming action, Rhode Island College will resume Little East Conference play at UMass Boston on Saturday, Feb. 6 (3 p.m.).