Amherst College made 13 3-pointers and posted an 86-75 NESCAC win against the Hamilton College Continentals at Hamilton's Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Saturday afternoon.

The Continentals (15-8, 4-6 NESCAC) are in eighth place in the conference standings and will be the seventh or eighth seed for the 2017 NESCAC Men's Basketball Championship. Hamilton will play at either Middlebury College or Tufts University in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 18.

Nationally ranked No. 8 Amherst (17-6, 7-3) is the third seed for the championship and will host either Bates College or Williams College next Saturday.

Peter Hoffmann '19 poured in a career-high 26 points on 10 of 16 shooting for the Continentals. Hoffmann leads the team in scoring and is second in the conference in field goal percentage. He also grabbed six rebounds and blocked three shots.

Kena Gilmour '20 dropped in 15 points off the bench and Michael Grassey '19 added 10 and six boards in a rare reserve appearance for Hamilton. Jack Dwyer '18 handed out six assists and Carlos Fineman '17 chipped in six rebounds and three steals in his second career start. Fineman, Kyle Pitman '17 and Wes Wilbur '17 were honored at halftime during a senior day ceremony.

Jayde Dawson was 6 of 8 from beyond the arc and a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line as he led the Purple and White with 30 points. Michael Riopel scored 18 points and Johnny McCarthy notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Reid Berman dished out four assists and David George contributed 10 points, nine boards and three blocked shots.

Three-point shooting was key in this game as Amherst shot 48.1 percent (13 of 27) from long range and the Continentals shot 25 percent (5 of 20).

There were five ties and eight lead changes in the first six-plus minutes of the opening half. Two free throws by Hamilton's Andrew Groll '19 gave the Continentals their last lead at 16-15 with 13:48 left. Jacob Nabatoff put the Purple and White in front for good on a 3-pointer -- his only points of the day -- 13 seconds later.

Amherst went on to lead by as many as 10 points on three occasions in the first half. A Dawson basket from long range made it 35-25 with 7:07 remaining, another trifetca by Riopel gave the Purple and White a 39-29 cushion with 5:23 to go, and a pair of Riopel free throws put Amherst up 44-34 with 28 seconds left. Riopel finished the half with 15 points. Gilmour nailed a jumper just before the halftime buzzer and Hamilton trailed 44-36 at the break. The Purple and White were red-hot in the first 20 minutes as they shot 51.9 percent from the floor including 7 of 12 from 3-point range and made all nine of their free throw attempts.

The Continentals didn't get closer than three points in the second half. After a George offensive rebound and putback put Amherst ahead by 10 at 51-41, Hamilton scored the next seven points. Grassey and Hoffmann scored in the paint and a Hoffmann 3-pointer pulled the Continentals within three at 51-48 with 15:44 remaining.

The Purple and White responded with an 8-0 run and their largest lead up to that point. After an Amherst timeout, Riopel made a layup and then Dawson canned two free throws. McCarthy made the second of two free throws and Dawson drained a 3-pointer for a 59-48 cushion with 13:45 to go. The Purple and White led by at least six points the rest of the way. Amherst took its largest lead of 15 points in the final minute. Dawson scored 23 points in the second half.

Hamilton wraps up its regular season with a non-conference game at SUNY Cobleskill on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.