Men's Basketball Rolls to 68-51 Win over Wesleyan
Defense, hot shooting guarantees Jeffs share of second-straight Little III title

    AMHERST, Mass. - The men's basketball team used 11 first-half points from junior guard Erik Kelly (Staples, MN) to cruise to an easy 68-51 victory over Wesleyan University on Tuesday night, their second win over the Cardinals in six days, and their third Little III victory during that same stretch.
   Kelly hit his first three three-pointers of the game, and the Lord Jeffs led by as many as 11 in the first half en route to a 31-23 halftime edge. The Cardinals connected on only nine of 28 first-half shot attempts, while the Jeffs were 12-24 from the field.
   Two quick threes early in the second half from junior point guard Brian Daoust (Dover, MA) helped lift the hosts to a 45-31 advantage, and behind solid defense, the Jeffs never looked back. Freshman forward Pat Fitzsimons (Durham, NC) gave Amherst its biggest lead of the game with his 12th and 13th points of the night, putting the Jeffs up 66-44 inside the two-minute mark. Fitzsimons scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half, finishing just two points shy of his career high. Kelly, who was named NESCAC Player of the Week on Monday, added three steals to his 13-point performance, and Daoust finished with 11 points and four assists. Senior Co-captain Chris Smith (Swarthmore, PA) pulled down 11 rebounds, his fifth double-digit game of the season, to help Amherst to a 39-29 edge on the glass.
   Wesleyan sophomore Brendan Pettit (Narbeth, PA) led all scorers with 19 points, while teammate Leo Jones (Englewood, CA) added 14 points and nine boards.  For the game, the Jeffs finished 26-48 (54.2%) from the field, including a blistering second half that saw them connect on 14 of 24 field goal attempts. The Cardinals finished 19-54 (35.2%) from the field, and could never get their offense going as they scored the fewest points by an Amherst opponent in three years.
   With the sweep of Wesleyan and Saturday's 72-54 rout of arch-rival Williams College, the Jeffs are guaranteed of at least a share of their second straight Little III title, and they can claim the title outright with either a win at Williams on February 4, or an Eph loss to Wesleyan in either of their two meetins in the next week. The Jeffs (9-3), who have won five in a row, get a 10-day layoff until their next game, Friday night, January 28, at Tufts University. Wesleyan, who drops to 8-3 with the loss, continues their four-game Little III stretch on Saturday in Williamstown, before returning to Wesleyan next Friday for another battle against the Ephs.

Wesleyan (8-3)

      
23

      
28

      
--

      
51
Amherst (9-3)
31
37
--
68

Wesleyan (51) Pettit 6-10 7-10 19, Jones 6-13 1-1 14, O'Brien 4-7 0-1 9, Esdaile 1-4 2-4 4, Griffin 1-5 0-0 2, Thompson 1-2 0-0 2, Hochstein 0-3 1-2 1, Williams 0-3 0-0 0, Meyer 0-4 0-0 0, Janelli 0-2 0-0 0, Gordon 0-1 0-0 0, Myrie 0-0 0-0 0, McBeth 0-0 0-0 0, TOTALS: 19-54 11-18 51

Amherst (68) Kelly 5-9 0-0 13, Fitzsimons 5-7 3-3 13, Daoust 4-7 0-0 11, Quattlebaum 4-9 0-4 8, Smith 3-4 2-8 8, Collins 2-3 3-4 7, Faulkner 1-1 2-2 4, Zieja 2-6 0-0 4, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Jenkins 0-1 0-0 0, Proctor 0-0 0-0 0, Sexson 0-0 0-0 0, TOTALS: 26-48 10-21 68

3-point goals - Wesleyan 2-14 (Jones 1-3, O'Brien 1-3, Griffin 0-2, Hochstein 0-2, Janelli 0-2, Meyer 0-1, Thompson 0-1), Amherst 6-14 (Daoust 3-6, Kelly 3-5, Quattlebaum 0-2, Zieja 0-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Wesleyan 29 (Jones 9), Amherst 39 (Smith 11). Assists - Wesleyan 10 (Williams 4), Amherst 14 (Quattlebaum 5). Total fouls - Wesleyan 20, Amherst 20. Technicals - None. Attendance - 477.