Amherst College took the lead with a 20-4 run midway through the second half and the Mammoths went on to a 76-69 NESCAC win against the Hamilton College Continentals at Amherst's LeFrak Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Hamilton (12-6, 1-4 NESCAC) shot 55.2 percent from the floor in the first half as the Continentals held a 35-32 edge at the break. Hamilton is at SUNY Polytechnic for the Continentals' fifth straight game away from home on Sunday, Jan. 26. The contest starts at 5 p.m.

The Mammoths (12-6, 3-2) made 20 free throws while Hamilton attempted just 12. Amherst, which is still receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, enjoyed a 42-28 advantage on the glass.

Kena Gilmour '20 poured in 26 points for the Continentals. Gilmour is second in the conference with 22.5 points per game and moved into sixth place on the team's all-time scoring list with 1,788 career points. John Cavanaugh '87 finished his All-America career with 1,782.

Nick Osarenren '22 chipped in seven points and two blocked shots for Hamilton. Sayo Denloye '20 handed out four assists and Eric Anderson '22 blocked two shots.

Grant Robinson led the Mammoths with 18 points and Fru Che contributed 15 and three steals. Josh Chery posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Garrett Day scored 11 points off the bench. Devonn Allen registered seven points and 10 boards.

The Continentals took their largest lead of nine points at 50-41 on a 3-pointer by Vince Conn '21 with 12:48 left. Amherst responded with a 10-0 spurt and went up by one at 51-50 with 9:32 remaining. Hamilton took its last lead on the next possession on a Patrick Mogan '23 layup. The Mammoths went in front for good on baskets in the paint by Che and Allen, and two free throws by Robinson made it 61-54 with 4:49 to go. The Continentals didn't get closer than four points the rest of the way.

The teams combined for seven ties and nine lead changes as nobody led by more than four points until Hamilton opened the second half with baskets by Denloye and Spencer Kendall '21 that made it 39-32. Osarenren scored all seven of his points in the opening 20 minutes. The Continentals led for most of the first 11 minutes of the second half.