In the penultimate weekend of regular season action, the Amherst men’s basketball team split its two away contests, falling to Tufts before besting Bates. The Mammoths, however would also fall to Wesleyan in a Tuesday evening NESCAC battle.

Tufts proved to be a significant challenge for the visiting Mammoths, who saw their four-game win streak come to an end.

Despite senior captain Johnny McCarthy’s impressive 13 points and 14 rebounds, Amherst was not able to come away with the win, as the Jumbos emerged with a hard-fought four-point victory, 60-56.
Point guard Grant Robinson ’21 provided a secondary scoring punch for the visitors, tallying 12 points. Michael Riopel ’18 and Eric Sellew ’20 were both solid, notching nine points apiece and collecting six and five rebounds, respectively. However, in the relatively low-scoring affair, Tufts came out on top thanks to the Jumbos’ Vincent Pace tallying a remarkable 27 points. The Mammoths were forced to regroup quickly after the loss, as they were back in action the following afternoon against the Bates Bobcats. In what proved to be a career-night, 6’10 center Joe Schneider ’19 led the team with a career-high 24 points, most of which came after the halftime break.

A huge second-half push, paced by Schneider’s 22 points in the frame, propelled Amherst to a decisive win over the hosts. First-year Fru Che came away with a team-high 11 boards and three assists, and, after leading by only one point at halftime, the Mammoths pulled away for an 80-61 victory.

On Tuesday, Feb. 6, Amherst headed to Middletown, Connecticut to take on the Wesleyan Cardinals. Unfortunately, the Mammoths were unable to clinch victory, after a strong shooting performance from the Cardinals left Amherst in their wake. Wesleyan took an early lead, and the Mammoths never cut the deficit to within ten points. Eventually the hosts emerged with a comfortable 71-57 win.

After this past week’s action, the Amherst men move to 14-8 on the season and 5-4 in the NESCAC. This final week of regular season play will be crucial to ensure the Mammoths secure a high seed in the NESCAC tournament.

The Mammoths will finish out their regular season at home in LeFrak Gymnasium with games against Williams and Middlebury on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 10 at 3 p.m., respectively.
Before tip-off on Saturday, senior co-captains Riopel and McCarthy will be recognized for their impressive four years on the Amherst basketball team.