#5 Amherst Shoots 60.7% En Route to Downing New Jersey City 92-74 in NCAA "Sweet 16"

by New Jersey City Sports Information
3/12/04

LANCASTER, PA - #5 ranked Amherst College opened up the second half on a 10-0 run in the first 2:31 of action to open up a 19-point lead, shot 70.8 percent in the period (17-of-24) and had six players in double figures, as the Lord Jeffs defeated New Jersey City University, 92-74, in the Sweet 16 round of the 2004 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament at Franklin & Marshall College.

NJCU, the champions of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, end the season at 22-7, tied for the seventh most wins in school history, and have their five-game winning streak snapped.

Amherst (26-3) advances to the Elite 8 Saturday evening at 7pm, and will face the winner of F & M with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Amherst has never been to the Final Four. This will be the school's fourth trip to the Elite 8 in seven NCAA appearances. Tonight's match-up was the first-ever meeting between NJCU and Amherst in men's basketball. NJCU was making its 16th NCAA Tournament appearance and playing in its sixth Sweet 16.

In defeat, senior guard and All-America candidate Samar Battle ended his career in style, notching a game-high 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting with six rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 35 minutes. All of his stats were team highs. The 2004 NJAC Player of the Year finished his career with 1507 points, seventh in school history. He also ends the year with a 20.6 per game scoring average to become the first NJCU player since 1987-88 to average 20 for a season. The loss marked only the second time in 16 games this season (14-2) that NJCU did not win a game when he reached 20 on the scoreboard. The other loss was against No. 1 Williams College, the defending national champions, which beat Amherst two weeks ago in the NESCAC conference championship game. NJCU was 26-4 all-time when Battle had 20 or more in his career.

Also for NJCU in defeat, sophomore guard Kareen Collins added 13 points (6-of-13), while freshman center Abe Williams had 10 points (5-of-9) and four steals in 23 minutes.

Amherst was led by junior forward Andrew Schiel with 23 points (11-of-20), and eight rebounds.

Sophomore guard John Bedford had 16 points (6-of-10, 2-of-3 3FG) and six rebounds off the bench. Senior guard Adam Harper added 14 points (4-of-9, 3-of-6 3 FG), five rebounds, and three assists in 37 minutes.

Also for the Jeffs, senior guard John Donovan had 11 points (4-of-6), five rebounds, five assists, and five steals in 34 minutes. Scoring 10 each were junior guard Ray Corrigan, who shot 5-of-5 with three assists, and junior forward Tim Jones (Richmond, VA), who grabbed six rebounds.

Both teams shot at least 50 percent in the first half, with NJCU hitting 16-of-32, before finishing at 47.0 percent (31-of-66). However, Amherst was awesome from the floor, passing the ball well, and finding people open in the paint and on the perimeter.

The Jeffs hit on 17-of-32 in the first half, or 53.2 percent before exploding for the 70.8 percent rate in the second period, and finished a lights-out 60.7 percent overall on the night (34-of-56), including 10-of-21 from three-point range (47.6%). Amherst also out-rebounded NJCU, 39-30. Amherst had 11 offensive rebounds, and translated that into a 22-8 edge in second chance points,

NJCU was hungry early on, surprising the Jeffs by jumping out to a 10-4 and 12-6 lead, as Battle had six straight points for the Knights. Amherst tied the game at 16-16 at 12:51, before the Knights again moved ahead by two, 18-16.

After Amherst led 24-20, NJCU rallied to tie the game at 24-24, and Williams converted a lay-up at 7:33 that gave the Knights their final lead of the season, 26-24.

From there, Amherst went on a 10-0 run over 4:20 to move in front, 34-26. Bedford had two treys during the tear, and Schiel added four points. The Jeffs led by nine at the break, 41-32.

But when the second half started, Amherst showed why it
leads the nation in scoring margin by quite a bit at 23.9 per game. The Jeffs manufactured another 10-0 run in the first 2:31 of the half to pull ahead by 19, 51-32 at 17:29. During the stretch, Corrigan had four and both Harper and Donovan canned threes.

NJCU never came closer than 14 the remainder of the evening. Amherst's largest lead was 23 on two occasions, including 86-63 on a Bedford lay-up at 4:14. It was NJCU's largest deficit of the season.