Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. – The Nichols College men's basketball team was defeated by defending national champion Amherst College 114-86 in the championship contest of the Ken Wright Invitational Tournament Saturday afternoon at LeFrak Gymnasium.

Senior Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) led all scorers with 25 points as he went a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line. Junior Chris Johnson (Mansfield, Mass.) tallied 12 points and six rebounds while junior Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) chipped in with 10 points and senior Sam Horning (Falmouth, Maine) added nine. Nichols shot 48 percent from the field (28-of-59) and only committed 13 turnovers.

Amherst shot 61 percent from the field (40-of-66) and held a 39-26 edge in rebounds. The Lord Jeffs (2-0) featured five student-athletes in double-figure in scoring, led by Connor Green with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Hitting 16-of-23 shot attempts (69.6 percent) and 13-of-18 (72.2 percent) of his triples, the sophomore swingman averaged 26.0 points per game en route to Tournament MVP honors. Aaron Toomey '14 joined Green on the all-tourney squad thanks to a 13-point, eight-assist, five-rebound effort in Saturday's finale.

Senior David Kalema chipped in with 16 points and five assists while classmate Tom Killian had 13 points, making 3-of-5 threes. Sophomore Ben Pollack rounded out the list of Jeffs in double-digits with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting with five boards.

Controlling play over the first five minutes, Amherst quickly built a 19-5 lead. The Jeffs connected on six of their first eight shots, with Toomey, Green and Killian each hitting triples during that span. Battling back, Nichols trimmed the deficit to nine over the next couple of minutes thanks to a junior Marlon Bennett (Stratford, Conn.) jumper and sophomore Jalen Hurst (Hartford, Conn.) three-pointer.

The Purple & White responded with a 10-3 run, building a 16-point cushion on a Kalema layup. The Bison pulled within 12 at 38-26 on a Sheehan bucket at 4:50, but the Jeffs netted 14 of the game's next 20 points to extend the margin to 22. Pollack got the run started with a layup before four-consecutive treys from senior Connor Gach, Killian and Green capped off the decisive first half stretch.

Amherst continued to roll in the second period, mounting a 13-2 run over the first 3:13 of the frame. Killian and Pollack got things started with consecutive layups, before Kalema knifed into the paint for two. Langadas momentarily stemmed the tide with Nichols first field goal of the half, but two-straight Green and Killian three-pointers upped the Amherst cushion to 69-39.

A Johnson dunk at 15:48 pulled the Bison within 26, but that was as close as the visitors would get, with Amherst leading by as much as 36 with 6:43 remaining in regulation. Amherst's bench also held a 41-27 scoring edge in what was a balanced offensive effort.

The Bison host MCLA Tuesday at 6 p.m. Amherst plays at Westfield State Tuesday at 7 p.m.