16-point, 17-rebound Senior Day effort from Smith '00 leads Jeffs to fifth straight
AMHERST, Mass. -- On Senior Day at
LeFrak Gymnasium, it was a junior-senior duo that led host Amherst
College to a dominating 80-59 win over the visiting Colby College
White Mules, as senior Co-captain Chris Smith (Swarthmore,
PA) and junior Erik Kelly (Staples, MN) combined to
lead the Jeffs to their fifth-consecutive victory.
The hosts started the game hot, jumping out
to a quick 9-2 lead with Kelly scoring the Jeffs' first five points.
The Mules never got any closer than a 34-25 deficit at the seven-minute
mark, and the Jeffs closed the half on a 10-0 run to take a 19-point
lead to the locker room. Kelly and Smith combined for 29 first-half
points, while the Jeffs held a decided edge on the boards.
Colby briefly cut into the Jeff lead in the
second half, thanks to the solid play of the NESCAC's leading
scorer, White Mule senior Ken Allen (Monson, ME). Allen
hit a pair of threes to cut the Amherst lead to 53-40, but Kelly
capped a 13-2 Amherst run with his fourth three-pointer of the
game, and the Jeffs never looked back en route to the 21-point
victory. The Mules did not help their cause from the charity stripe,
connecting on only eight of 19 second-half attempts from the line,
while stingy Amherst defense held the visitors to a 22-64 (34.4
percent) performance from the field for the game.
The Jeffs, on the other hand, finished 29 of
61 from the field (47.5 percent), with Kelly and Smith leading
four players in double figures with 23 and 16 points, respectively.
Kelly, who matched a career-high with the 23-point effort, finished
seven of 11 from the field, including a five-for-seven performance
from downtown.
But the story was the Jeff seniors. In their
second-to-last home game, Smith and classmates Hugh Quattlebaum
(Andover, MA) and Jackson Collins (Brooklyn, NY) turned
in a dominating performance inside, combining for 36 points and
28 of the Jeffs' 50 rebounds, just seven less than Colby's team
total of 35. Smith finished with a career-high 17 rebounds, adding
four assists, one block and a six-for-six performance from the
foul line to cap a stellar all-around performance.
Allen, who finished with 23 points on nine
of 17 shooting, was the lone White Mule in double figures, and
no other Colby player had more than six points in the loss.
With the win, their fifth in a row, the Jeffs
improve to 16-5, 6-2 in the NESCAC, entering the final week of
the regular season. The Jeffs host travel-partner Trinity College
at home on Tuesday night, before next Saturday's showdown at Connecticut
College, the top team in the NESCAC. The White Mules, who fall
to 15-6 with the loss, 5-4 in the league, battle arch-rival Bowdoin
College on Tuesday night.
| Colby College (15-6, 5-4) |
|
|
|
|
| Amherst (16-5, 6-2) |
|
|
|
|
Colby (59) Ken Allen 9-17 1-1 23, Gallagher 3-7 0-0 6, Clark 2-6 2-2 6, Michaud 2-4 0-2 4, Cunningham 1-2 2-2 4, Flood 1-1 2-4 4, Gutierrez 1-4 2-3 4, Crosman 1-10 0-4 3, Kirk Allen 1-2 0-0 3, Forsyth 1-3 0-2 2, Hansen 0-3 0-0 0, Petrosky 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Civiello 0-1 0-0 0, Randolph 0-2 0-0 0, Moro 0-0 0-0 0, MacDonald 0-0 0-0 0, Tweedie 0-0 0-0 0; TOTALS 22-64 9-20 59
Amherst (80) Kelly 7-11 4-7 23, Smith 5-10 6-6 16, Collins 5-7 0-1 10, Quattlebaum 5-10 0-0 10, Zieja 3-6 0-0 7, Jenkins 2-3 0-0 4, Faulkner 0-2 4-4 4, Krause 1-2 0-0 3, Fitzsimons 1-3 0-1 2, Williams 0-1 1-4 1, Daoust 0-3 0-0 0, Taverna 0-3, 0-0 0, Proctor 0-0 0-0 0, Keane 0-0 0-0 0, Sexson 0-0 0-0 0; TOTALS 29-61 15-23 80
3-point goals -- Colby 6-18 (Ken Allen 4-8, Crosman 1-3, Kirk Allen 1-2, Hansen 0-2, Forsyth 0-1, Gutierrez 0-1, Davis 0-1), Amherst 7-16 (Kelly 5-7, Krause 1-2, Zieja 1-1, Daoust 0-2, Quattlebaum 0-1, Smith 0-1, Taverna 0-1, Jenkins 0-1). Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Colby 35 (Gallagher 7), Amherst 50 (Smith 17). Assists -- Colby 12 (Gutierrez, Ken Allen, 3), Amherst 17 (Faulkner 5). Total fouls -- Colby 18, Amherst 17. Technicals -- NONE. Attendance -- 299.