The Amherst men’s basketball team extended its win streak to five with victories over Westfield State and Emerson College this week. These two wins help set the tone for the team’s next three games, all on the road, before the holiday break.
The purple and white impressed with 16 three-pointers on Tuesday against Westfield State. Senior captain Connor Green led the offensive attack, recording a double-double with a game high 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Johnny McCarthy ’18, Michael Riopel ’18, Jeff Racy ’17 and David George ’17 all joined Green in double digits. George and Riopel contributed 10 each, with Racy, shooting 6-11 from three point range, adding 20, and McCarthy adding 12 along with his career-high seven assists.
Westfield kept the game close the whole first half, cutting Amherst’s lead to only five nearing the end of the first half, before a pair of Racy free throws and Connor Green’s layup at the buzzer, put them up 43-32 going into halftime. The purple and white took the momentum and ran with it coming into the second half, going on a 24-8 run in the first eight minutes.
The Amherst bench impressed once again, contributing 23 of the overall points scored. Their sizeable lead in the final minutes of the game prompted Coach Hixon to sub in the rest of his bench and once again first-year Joe Schneider made a strong showing, contributing two points, a rebound and a block in his four minutes.
The men continued to impress when they traveled to Emerson College on Saturday to take on the 3-4 Lions.
The purple and white had five players scoring in double digits in their dominating 99-74 win. Green and George led a balanced offensive attack with 16 points apiece, followed by Racy — who, along with Green, was a perfect 4-4 from the outside — and sophomore Jayde Dawson with 14 points each. Rounding out the group, McCarthy contributed a solid 13 points to the offensive effort in addition to his two assists.
Emerson led for the first six minutes of play, until Green scored to give Amherst their first lead of the game, catalyzing a 10-0 run from the purple and white. They scored 22 of the next 24 points and never gave up momentum from there, leading 43-33 going into the locker-room at halftime.
The second half was all Amherst, as Green and Racy hit four consecutive three-pointers within two minutes of action to spur 14-0 run. Emerson attempted to regain momentum as they cut their defecit to 12 but a decisive dunk from George put an end to their rally, as Amherst finished out the game outscoring their opponents 56-41 during the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Coming up next, as Amherst men’s basketball stays on the road, they take on a 6-1 Babson on Thursday, Dec. 10, and 4-3 Lasell on Saturday, Dec. 12. The Babson matchup will be crucial as Amherst suffered one of their few losses last season to the Beavers.
