CLINTON, N.Y. -- Hamilton College's Conner Rood '23 poured in 17 points and the Continentals cruised to a 78-49 NESCAC win over the Amherst College Mammoths at Hamilton's Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Saturday afternoon. 

How It Happened

• Amherst's Will Scherer opened with a dunk, but the Continentals responded with a jumper by Rood and a 3-pointer by Liam Regan '23. 
• Neither team led by more than four points until midway through the first half when nine straight by Rood gave Hamilton a 28-21 lead. Rood made a layup, went 2-for-2 at the line, hit a fast-break jumper in the paint and finally a 3-ball with 8:02 remaining. 
• The Mammoths countered with seven straight points and evened the score at 28-28 with 4:26 to go. 
• Owen Kane '25 and Rood hit back-to-back shots for a 32-28 advantage one minute later. 
• Amherst cut its deficit to one possession on a 3-pointer by Bobby Sommers, but Rood closed out the half with two shots at the line for a 34-31 lead heading into the break. 
• The first half featured seven lead changes and five ties. 
• The Continentals opened the second half with a 9-2 run for a 43-33 lead with 15:15 left. 
• Hamilton stayed hot with back-to-back 3-pointers by Teja Singh '25 and Kane for a 20-point cushion at 56-36 with 11:14 remaining.
• The Continentals grabbed their largest lead at 74-41 on a Regan 3-pointer with 5:28 remaining. 
• Hamilton finished with consecutive layups by Christian McDaniel '24 and Garret Keyhani '26. 
• Amherst shot 19 percent (4-21) from the floor in the second half, including 0 of 6 from beyond the arc, and 52.6 percent (10-19) at the charity stripe. 
• Hamilton shot 42.9 percent (30-70) from the floor overall and was 6 of 14 from the 3-point line in the second half. The Continentals were 9-for-11 at the line. 
• The Continentals tallied 32 points in the paint.
• Hamilton owned a 48-30 advantage on the glass that included 17 offensive rebounds. 

Notes

• Hamilton (11-7 overall) improved to 3-2 in NESCAC action and are fourth in the conference standings. 
• Amherst (6-11, 2-3 NESCAC) dropped its second straight contest. 
• Rood shot 5 of 9 from the floor and 6-for-8 at the line. He led the Continentals with seven rebounds. 
• Morgan tallied 12 points and is averaging 15.5 per game. 
• Regan dropped in 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting including a perfect 3 of 3 from beyond the arc. 
• Singh registered 10 points and a pair of steals.
• Keyhani and Kane collected eight points apiece and Patrick Mogan '23 handed out five assists. 
• C.J. Mitchell paced Amherst with eight points off the bench.  
• Canin Reynolds and Noah Helmke contributed seven points apiece. 

Next Game

• Hamilton will travel to local non-conference opponent SUNY Polytechnic on Tuesday, Jan. 24 for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.