West Massachusetts News

Cardinals hold off Mammoths rally for 57-54 win in Little Three action

 Senior guard Gabe Ravetz scored a career-high 23 points as Wesleyan University held off a late comeback for a 57-54 win over the Amherst College men's basketball team in Little Three action on Monday night at Silloway Gymnasium.

The reigning NESCAC champion Cardinals improved to 6-5 overall with their fourth straight win while the Mammoths fell to 4-7. The game was a non-conference matchup that will help to determine the Little Three champion.

The Mammoths are back in action Friday at 7 p.m., hosting arch-rival Williams for another Little Three clash to open NESCAC play at LeFrak Gymnasium. The Ephs are currently undefeated and ranked second in the nation.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* Ravetz scored the first five points of the game to give the Cardinals an early lead they never relinquished. Wesleyan built the lead to 21-4 before the midway point of the first half and led by as many as 19 before halftime.

* The Mammoths held Wesleyan scoreless for the final 2:42 of the first half and scored five unanswered points, with a traditional three-point play from sophomore forward Noah Helmke cutting the lead to 12 and sending Wesleyan to the locker room with a 34-22 lead.

* After sophomore forward Ryker Vance opened the second half with a layup to cut the lead to 10, the Cardinals built the lead back up to 17 with 15 minutes to play.

* From that point, the Mammoths went on an 18-4 run over the next eight minutes to make it a one-possession game. First-year forward Chris Hammond scored eight points in that stretch, hitting a three with 6:33 to play to cut the Wesleyan lead to three at 49-46.

* A put-back from Vance with 13 seconds left got the Mammoths back within two at 56-54. Ravetz was fouled with 10 seconds left and hit one of two free throws to make it a three-point game but the Mammoths were unable to score on the ensuing possession before the final buzzer sounded.

Original source can be found here