NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's basketball team led for a majority of the game en route to a 62-47 victory over Amherst College on Saturday afternoon in a NESCAC clash at Luce Field House.
Cam Schainfeld (Newton, Mass.) netted a game-high 19 points and added four rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead the Camels to the crucial league win.
Elias Espinosa (Leonia, N.J.) contributed a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds in his return to the floor, and
Andrew Hartel (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) chipped in 13 points and four boards.
Schainfeld was the catalyst for the Camels in the opening half, pouring in 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting that included a perfect 3-for-3 effort from deep. His layup tied the game at 13-13 with 8:43 remaining in the period, and on the ensuing possession he drained a three to put Conn on top for good.
Edward Harrison (Charlottesville, Va.) followed with a three of his own to cap an 8-0 run and extend the lead to six.
The Camels led by as many as nine with 1:50 to go, but a three-pointer by Bobby Sommers and a jumper by Ryker Vance chopped the margin to 27-23 by intermission. Vance paced the Mammoths with 11 points in the stanza.
Espinosa came out hot to start the second half. He drained a three on Conn's opening possession and was fouled on the play. After converting the four-point play, he drilled another three on the Camels' next possession to widen the lead to 34-25.
Dylan Watson (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) buried a three at the 16:34 mark to put the Camels on top by double digits, and Amherst never got closer than 10 the rest of the way. Later, Watson whipped a cross-court pass to
Garrett Clar (Victor, N.Y.) for a corner three that bumped the margin to 15 with 7:37 to play.
Clar finished with seven points off the bench.
RJ Casey (Nashville, Tenn.) handed out a game-high five assists and also added three steals and three rebounds.
Conn limited Amherst (11-11 overall, 2-6 NESCAC) to 29-percent shooting and a 4-for-18 effort from long range. Vance led the Mammoths with 13 points while Marc Garraud chipped in nine.
Conn (12-11 overall, 4-5 NESCAC) will close out the regular season with a home game against Bates College on Friday, February 14 at 7:00 p.m.
