NEW LONDON, Conn. - Sophomore Jarron Flynn (Roslindale, Mass.) scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Connecticut College men's basketball team to a 62-43 rout of Hamilton on Friday night. 

After spending nearly a month on the road, the Camels returned to Luce Field House and faced off with the Continentals in a key NESCAC matchup.

The Continentals (12-11, 4-5 NESCAC) started off hot, with an early eight-point lead capped off by an Eric Anderson 3-pointer.

Trailing 17-9 halfway through the opening period, the Camels looked to keep themselves in the game. A 3-pointer from sharpshooting freshman Kevin Baxter (Branford, Conn.) was followed up by scores from fellow freshman Cam Schainfeld (Newton, Mass.), and Conn found themselves back within a score, trailing 19-18 with just under seven minutes to play.

After the two sides exchanged stops and scores throughout the remainder of the half, the Continentals took a 31-30 lead into the half.

Looking to overcome the narrow one point deficit, the Camels turned to Flynn in the second half.

On the opening possession following the break, Flynn blew by one defender before finishing a tough layup over another. On the ensuing defensive stand, the sophomore guard stripped the Continental's Nick Osarenren of the ball before racing ahead of the pack to cash in on another two points.

No more than a minute later, Flynn dropped yet another score, and the Camels, who were down at halftime, found themselves up 38-32 just 90 seconds into the second half. After watching their lead dissipate into a six-point deficit, the Continentals took a timeout in hopes of recalibrating and cooling off the hot hand of Flynn.

But the Camels guard wasn't done. After an Anderson score gave the Continentals their first points of the second half, Flynn quickly regained control, burying a deep corner three off the feed from freshman forward Ryan Banks (Woodley, England).

Flynn then passed the hot hand to fellow sophomore Billy Whelan (Hamilton, Mass.), who dropped in back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Camels what was then the largest lead of the game.

While the scoreboard read 44-35 with 15 minutes to go, the Camels added on.

After Ben Rice (Hanson, Mass.) dropped in a pair of free throws, sophomore forward David Murray (Jackson Heights, N.Y.) muscled his way through a trio of Continentals for a tough two-point score, which when followed up by his free throw in the ensuing possession, gave the Camels a 15-point lead.

With their foot on the gas, Austin Lavitt (Rye Brook, N.Y.) delivered his second 3-pointer of the night to extend the lead for the home team, eventually resulting in a 62-43 final in favor of the Camels.

While Flynn's 20 points led the way for the Camels, their defense was excellent throughout.

After conceding 31 points in the first half, the hosts buckled down and held the Continentals to just 12 points in the second period, as their suffocating zone defense held the visitors to a mere 13% shooting from the field, managing only three scores on 23 attempts. 

The Camels (9-10, 3-5 NESCAC) will look to keep the momentum going when they play host to Amherst on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the final regular season game of the year.