Amherst was in striking distance of Clark throughout most of the game until the Cougars' stellar late-game free throw shooting put the contest out of reach.
Both teams had an impressive day shooting the long ball, with Amherst going 7-for-20 from behind the arc while Clark went 9-for-17. Junior tri-captain Steve Zieja's double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) kept the Jeffs in the game, along with freshman guard Ray Corrigan's contribution of 14 points.
Clark's balanced offense kept Amherst's defense off-balance. Amos Anderson '02 and Sean Fleming '03 each had 17 points for the Cougars while freshman Dave McNamara added 16 points. Amherst also suffered physically in its first game against a bigger opponent, getting out-rebounded 39-27.
While little can be gleaned from comparing various teams' previous performances against common competition, it must trouble Head Coach Dave Hixon '75 and the crew that Clark's two loses came at the hands of Amherst's Little III rivals, Wesleyan and Williams.
Over the weekend, Amherst hosted and won the first annual Ken Wright '52 Memorial Invitational Basketball Tournament. Not only did the tournament serve as good preparation for Amherst's subsequent showdown with Clark University, it gave the young Jeff squad valuable experience in the back-to-back games that are a staple of NESCAC play.
Despite a slight letdown in the second half of the championship game against Vassar College, Amherst was impressive throughout the tourney, beating Rivier College 80-54 and Vassar 79-68. However, both Rivier and Vassar were undersized and coming off of losing campaigns last year. Tournament MVP Pat Fitzsimons '03 led the Jeffs, compiling 37 points and 23 rebounds over the two-day tournament.
The Jeffs struggled early against the Raiders of Rivier, falling behind 13-5 at the start of the first half. But Fitzsimons used his size and athleticism to get a couple of tip-in baskets that helped Amherst tie the score at 15. The Jeffs would dominate the rest of the game, propelled by a 27-11 run to close out the first half. Amherst proceeded to cruise en route to their 80-54 victory.
Fitzsimons had a career night, with 24 points and 14 rebounds, while point guard Ryan Faulkner '03 dished out a game-high 10 assists and sharpshooter John Donovan '04, an All-Tournament selection, came off the bench with 4-out-of-6 shooting and 10 points.
Junior guard Aaron Lopez led the Raiders with 15 points.
In the championship game, the Lord Jeffs squared off against the Vassar Brewers, who had survived a 75-70 overtime scare against the Stevens Institute of Technology.
Amherst jumped out to a big lead early against the smaller and shorter Vassar team, which is mostly manned with freshmen. Vassar employed a ball control strategy early against Amherst, holding on to the ball as long as the shot clock would allow. But Amherst's size prevented Vassar from getting good looks at the basket.
At the offensive end of the court, tri-captain and All-Tournament selection Zieja scored eight of his game-high 26 points midway through the first half during a 21-3 Amherst run.
Corrigan's buzzer-beater off the backboard from half-court gave the Jeffs what seemed to be an insurmountable 45-27 lead heading into the half.
But Vassar would not go away quietly in the second half. Head Coach Mike Dutton, forced to abandon his ball control strategy due to his team's large deficit, opened up his offense and gave his sharpshooters the green light, while employing an aggressive zone defense to stifle Amherst.
The combination of Vassar's improved shooting and the Jeffs inability to crack their visitor's stingy defense allowed the Brewers to get within two points with 3:20 to play.
But Amherst held tough in their first true test of the season. On the Jeffs' next possession, Zieja hit a jumper from the corner to double Amherst's lead.
Donovan's three-pointer a minute later put the game out of reach as Dave Hixon's troops survived the upset. "I knew that the game would probably be closer than our performance in the first half let on," said Hixon. "They should have played us the whole game, their holding on to the ball early helped us."
But the Jeffs are still showing signs of their relative youth. "We came out and played really well in the first half," said Zieja. "But we let them back into it, which you just can't do. It was a sign of our inexperience."
Amherst will look to rebound from its disappointing performance at Clark in the Pioneer Valley Invitational this weekend.