Men’s Basketball Fall at Amherst College

AMHERST, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Basketball team took to the road this evening, heading east to the LeFrak Gymnasium for a non-conference clash with the Amherst College Mammoth. Craig Williams scored 21 points while Frank Field recorded his first career double-double but the Trailblazers couldn't keep up with the Mammoths, falling 82-62.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2025
• Score: MCLA 62, Amherst 82
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 1-4 (MASCAC 0-0) | Amherst College Mammoths 6-1 (NESCAC 0-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• MCLA jumped out to an early lead, opening the game with a 9-2 run that started with a pair of layups by senior guard Craig Williams (Dover, DE) and was capped by a layup from junior guard Colin Quinn (South Hadley, MA), sandwiched around a three from freshman guard Frank Field (Adams, MA).
• That would represent the high water mark for the Trailblazers, as Amherst would storm back to tie the game at 13-13 five minutes later when KJ Neville made the first of two from the charity stripe. Despite Neville missing the back side of the free throws, the Mammoths would take their first lead of the night less than a minute later on a three by Nate Pabis. The home team would grow their lead out to seven points with just over ten and a half minutes left in the first half when Ryan Hempfling's three fell, forcing the road team to call a timeout.
• Multiple times MCLA would cut the lead to a single point multiple times. A three by Fields with just over nine minutes to play in the first half to make the score 22-21, and a pair of made free throws with six and a half minutes to play to make it 27-26 would be as close as the Trailblazers would get because Amherst closed out the half with 17-3 run to go into the intermission ahead 44-29.
• Despite Williams scoring 12 of his team-high 21 points in the second half, MCLA couldn't overcome a 16-point second half barrage from Pabis who led all scorers with a game-high 26 points off the bench.
• In addition to Pabis, the Mammoths got double-digit points from Neville (15 points), Zane Adams (11 points), and Marc Garraud (10 points).
• Field notched his first career double-double, scoring 11 points and posting a game-high 11 rebounds.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Field Goals / %: MCLA 19-56 / 33.9%, Amherst 24-57 / 42.1%
• 3 Points / %: MCLA 8-26 / 30.8%, Amherst 10-31 / 32.3%
• Free Throw / %: MCLA 16-22 / 72.7%, Amherst 24-49 / 82.8%
• Rebounds: MCLA 38, Amherst 40
• Points off Turnovers: MCLA 10, Amherst 19
• Second Chance Points: MCLA 16, Amherst 7
• Points in the Paint: MCLA 20, Amherst 20
• Bench Points: MCLA 12, Amherst 61

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when it plays host to New England College in the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium for a non-conference matchup with the Pilgrims. Tip-off is scheduled for noon.

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