CLINTON, N.Y. – The Connecticut College men's basketball team picked up an 86-75 victory over Hamilton College on Friday night in NESCAC action at Scott Field House.
James LaFrance (Guilford, Conn.) finished with a game-high 26 points and added nine rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead the Camels.
Dylan Watson (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) added a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds, and
Garrett Clar (Victor, N.Y.) and
Elias Espinosa (Leonia, N.J.) chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively, as Conn secured its first win at Hamilton since 2010.
The Camels got off to a fast start thanks to the hot hand of Espinosa, who drilled three triples in the opening 3:36 to help stake the visitors to a 15-7 advantage. Hamilton hung close and eventually took the lead behind a 16-4 stretch that yielded a three-point margin, but late threes by Clar and LaFrance put Conn back on top by a 37-36 tally at the break.
LaFrance knocked down a pair of three-pointers and had 14 points at intermission to lead all scorers. The Camels, who shot 8-for-17 from deep for the half, also got two threes from Clar and one from
Cole Craffey (Easton, Mass.).
The lead changed hands eight times in the first 10 minutes of the second half, with neither side able to build a margin of greater than three. Conn jumped ahead for good on a layup by
PJ Johnson Jr. (Marietta, Ga.) at the 10:30 mark, and five minutes later the Camels padded the margin with a 9-2 stretch that included five points from Watson.
After Hamilton cut the deficit to 72-68 with 3:41 to play, the Camels scored six straight to go up by double digits with 2:00 remaining.
RJ Casey (Nashville, Tenn.) supplied a driving layup and two free throws during the spurt, and the senior netted all eight of his points off the bench in the second half.
Conn went 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 1:20 to salt away the victory. The Camels made all but one of their 18 attempts from the charity stripe on the night.
Conn (16-6 overall, 4-4 NESCAC) will next play at Amherst College on Saturday, February 7 at 3:00 p.m.
