Nov. 19, 2005
AMHERST, MA - The Amherst men's basketball team got 17 points and eight rebounds from tournament MVP Dan Wheeler en route to a 68-57 come-from-behind victory over Endicott College to secure its fifth straight Ken Wright Memorial Invitational Championship Saturday.
The Jeffs - ranked fifth in the nation - got off to a sluggish start, netting only three of their first 15 field goal attempts while the Gulls (1-1) were busy mounting a 21-9 lead on the strength of eight early points from junior forward Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Second School, TX).
Amherst (2-0) finally awoke as senior John Casnocha (San Francisco, CA) drilled a three to end a 3:20 scoring drought and spark a 13-2 run to pull the Jeffs back within one, 23-22. A pair of free throws from Endicott sophomore Todd Burton (Lynn, MA/St. Mary's) gave the Gulls a 25-22 edge at the break.
Amherst came out firing in the second half as senior John Bedford (Ridgewood, NJ) scored five straight points to give the Jeffs their first lead of the game. Endicott answered, regaining the lead on a layup and a pair of free throws from Burton, but it was then that Wheeler would start taking over. Wheeler drilled two straight threes to give the Amherst a 35-33 edge at the 15:45-mark and the Jeffs would never trail again. The lead would stretch to as many as 17 points as Amherst controlled the tempo down the stretch.
Sophomore point guard Andrew Olson (San Diego, CA) joined Wheeler in double figures with 13 points, while junior Tim McLaughlin (Chatham, NJ) nabbed all-tournament honors with a 10-point performance. Sophomore Matt Goldsmith (Morristown, NJ) led the Jeffs on the glass with nine rebounds.
Marinkovic and senior Zach Ellis (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) claimed all-tournament honors for the Gulls as Marinkovic posted 11 points and nine rebounds, while Ellis added a team-high 16 points and three assists. Burton also reached double-figures, notching 12 points.
For a complete box score, please visit: Endicott/Amherst Game Stats
