Amherst, Mass. – The visiting Trinity College Bantams dropped an 88-67 decision against the Amherst College Lord Jeffs in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's basketball action this afternoon at leFrak Gymnasium.  Trinity drops to 10-7 overall and 1-2 in the NESCAC, while Amherst, ranked No. 9 in the nation, remains perfect at 16-0 overall and 3-0 in the league.

Freshman Eric Dean (Gilford, N.H.) oaced Trinity in scoring with 14 points off bench, making five out of six shots from the field, while senior guard Brian Ford (Bronx, N.Y.) and sophomore guard Cameron Sutton (Queens, N.Y.) added 13 points and three assists.  Sophomore forward Adam Skaggs (Framingham, Mass.) led the Bantams on the boards with six, but Trinity suffered from a 31-18 overall deficit on the glass.  Amherst shot 60 percent from the field, and five players scored in double-digits for Amherst.  Lord Jeff sophomore Allen Williamson (Saugus, Mass.) led the way with a game- high 21 points, while freshman Aaron Toomey (Greensboro, N.C.) was 6-for-6 from the field with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists.

At the 12:49 mark, Trinity trailed 23-13 despite making five of its first seven shots from the floor. Amherst made nine of its first 11 shots for a blazing start to the game.  Dean made a jumper for the Bantams in response, and senior guard Ian Fels (Miami, Fla.) made a pair at the line to close the gap to 24-17.  Toomey helped the Jeffs hold their lead through the middle of the half, twice finishing off three-point plays the old fashioned way and then knocking down a deep triple on the left wing.  During a four minute span, Trinity trimmed the margin from 13 points to just five at 35-30. Amherst responded, finishing the half on a 10-4 run to head into the break up 45-34. Williamson and Meehan carried the load for the Jeffs to end the half, scoring the final six points of the frame for Amherst.

Amherst scored the first five points of the second half to blow its lead up to 50-34. Trinity senior co-captain forward Luke MacDougall (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) scored on back-to-back possessions for the Bantams, briefly shrinking the Amherst lead to 53-40 with 15:53 to play, but Toomey finished off a strong Amherst respose added with a three of his own from the left corner to stretch the home lead to 68-50.  Dean scored seven straight points for the Bantams to shave the gap to 70-57 with 10:27 remaining, but Amherst went on a 13-3 run to put the game away with seven minutes to play.

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