Colby Downs Amherst 67-49 in Men's Basketball Quarterfinals
Courtesy Colby Sports Information
WATERVILLE, Maine - The Colby College men’s basketball team is headed to Williams College for the New England Small College Athletic Conference Final Four after scoring 38 points in the second half on the way to a 67-49 victory over Amherst College in a league quarterfinal game Saturday at Wadsworth Gymnasium.
Colby, the third seed, improves to 19-5 overall and will play against second-seeded Middlebury College in a semifinal game at 4 p.m. next Saturday at Williams. The host team will entertain fourth-seeded Bates College in the other game at 2 p.m., with the semifinal winners meeting at noon on Sunday in the league title game. Meanwhile, Amherst ends the season at 14-11.
Mike Russell (Wellesley, Mass.) had his 14th double-double game of the season with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 10 rebounds to lead Colby. Gil Haylon (Wellesley, Mass.) was 4-for-5 from 3-point range and nailed all three of his free throws for 15 points off the bench. Justin Sherman (Piedmont, Calif.) had 11 points and point guard Christian Van Loenen (Falmouth, Maine) dished a game-high seven assists and added eight rebounds. Van Loenen also had seven assists against Amherst during the regular season game won by the Mules.
Colby advanced with two-time All-NESCAC selection Adam Choice (Newport, R.I.) having a tough day offensively with nine points on 2-for-12 shooting. Choice, though, did other things and finished with 10 rebounds and four assists.
Conor Meehan (Meriden, Conn.) had nine of his team-high 14 points in the first half and added five assists for the sixth-seeded Lord Jeffs. David Waller (Tampa, Fla.) scored 10 points and blocked three shots.
The Mules had a 40-29 rebounding advantage and shot 19-for-24 from the foul line. Colby also was 6-for-12 from 3-point range and held the Lord Jeffs to a 1-for-13 effort.
Amherst led 7-0 and 11-2 early in the game, but the Mules steadily crept back in the contest and took a 29-26 halftime margin. The Lord Jeffs also started the second half off quickly and led 35-31 with 17:19 to play. The Mules took the lead for good when Russell scored inside for a 37-35 lead with 14:24 to play. Colby led 49-44 with 9:28 to play and finished the game on an 18-5 run.
