Amherst, Mass. – Junior Jayde Dawson had 17 points to lead the Amherst College Purple and White to a 66-53 victory over the visiting Trinity College Bantams in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's basketball action this afternoon at LeFrak Gymnasium.  Trinity falls to 13-7 overall and 4-2 in the NESCAC with its first loss in four games, while the No. 14-ranked Purple ands White improve to 14-4 overall and 4-2 in league play.

In a back-and-forth start to the first half, the sides battled to a 12-12 tie before Amherst used a 8-0 run to make it 20-12 with 8:37 to play in the first stanza. Trinity junior Eric Gendron (Merrimack, N.H.) drilled a three-pointer and added a free throw at the 6:44 mark to help pull the Bantams to within three at 24-21 with 6:44 to play, but Amherst junior John McCarthy answered with a trey to push the hosts' lead back to six with just over six minutes remaining in the half. Trinity twice battled to within three late in the period but a late 7-0 run highlighted by a Jeff Racy '17 triple helped Amherst take a 38-29 lead at intermission.

The Bantams scored five of the first six points of the second half as senior guard Langdon Neal (Chicagho, Ill.) hit the front end of two free throws, before senior co-captain Ed Ogundeko (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Gendron muscled in layups to pull Trinity to within five at 39-34 less than two minutes into the second frame. Dawson answered with two free throws and a mid-range jumper from the elbow as the Purple & White strung together a 10-4 run for a 49-38 lead. Trinity cut its deficit to seven at 53-46 at the 6:26 mark on a layup by sophomore forward Connor Merinder (Andover, Mass.), but Amherst went 6-for-6 down the stretch at the free throw line to ice it.

Ogundeko netted a team-best 15 points on 8-for-11 efficiency from the field and hauled in 11 rebounds, while Gendron added 10 points. Merinder finished with six rebounds off the bench, while Neal contributed nine points and seven rebounds.  Dawson seven of his 17 points from the foul line in nine tries in addition to five rebounds and four steals, while McCarthy added 11 points and tied for the game-high in rebounds with 11.  Amherst held a 32-26 edge in points in the paint, and a 22-6 differential in points off the bench.