AMHERST, Mass. – Forced into difficult shots all night by a stingy Amherst defense, the Wesleyan men's basketball team was dealt a 71-66 defeat to the Mammoths in a Little Three non-conference showdown on Tuesday night. Wesleyan (8-4) losses for the second straight game while Amherst (8-5) snaps a two-game losing streak.
 
In a game saw the Cardinals hold the NESCAC's top three-point shooting team coming into tonight without a three-pointer, Amherst made the most of their looks from inside the arc as the Mammoths went 0-for-12 from behind the arc but went 26-for-48 (54.2 percent) on two-point field goals for the game. On the flip side, Wesleyan struggled to string together much success on offense, shooting just 34.4 percent for the game while going 5-for-24 (20.8 percent) from three-point territory. Wesleyan also won the turnover battle, forcing 19 and committing 13, but finished -15 in rebounding as Amherst grabbed 50 rebounds (19 offensive) compared to 35 for the Cardinals.
 
Amherst was the better side in the early going, feeding their low post in Will Scherer who took full advantage, scoring 12 of his 17 points in the first half alone while the 6-foot-10 center hit six a of his first seven shots of the game. Wesleyan took a 10-9 lead after Shane Regan '25 went coast-to-coast on a steal and score, but it was all Mammoths for the next three minutes as a 10-2 surge put Amherst out in front 19-12.
 
The Cardinals answered back with a 7-0 run, scoring on three straight possessions including a Fritz Hauser '26 three-pointer that made it 21-19 Mammoths with 9:05 left in the first half. After Hauser made a floater in the lane on the next Wesleyan possession, Amherst locked down the Cardinals and held Wesleyan without a field goal for more than eight minutes of play, going on another 10-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 34-23.
 
Amherst continued to hold a double-digit lead more than three minutes into the second half before momentum began to swing near the midway point of the half. Jackson Cormier '26 drove baseline for a score to make it 47-40 and Regan followed with two free throw makes on consecutive possessions. The Mammoths' lead was trimmed to just four points and Scherer was sent to the bench with 8:56 remaining after the big man picked up his fourth foul.
 
Just as it seemed the script was about to flip in favor of Wesleyan, Amherst generated offense in a frenzy with points coming on five of their next six trips down the floor after Scherer left the game with 17 points. Suddenly leading 59-48, Amherst continued to hold a 10-point advantage with 3:14 left before the Cardinals mounted one last comeback attempt.
 
Trailing 65-57, Cormier made two free throws and after Bobby Sommers made 1-of-2 at the line, Hauser came up with a layup to make it 66-61 with 1:29 left. Wesleyan cut the deficit to just three on a Hauser three-pointer with 27.3 seconds left and forced a five second call on the ensuing inbounds. With plenty of time left to still go for two, Nicky Johnson '25 drove in the lane but lost control of the ball as the Mammoth defense converged, and the Cardinals were forced to foul.
 
Sommers made both of his free throws this time and a three-point miss from Cormier, followed by a Mammoth rebound finished off an Amherst victory.
 
Four Cardinals finished with 10+ points including a team-high 17 from Regan who added six rebounds to his totals. Cormier scored 16, going 10-for-10 from the free throw line, while adding six rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Johnson finished with 13 points while Hauser had 10.
 
Scherer scored 17 with eight rebounds in just 22 minutes to lead the Mammoths while Charlie Randall tallied a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds and Sommers scored 12 off the bench.
 
Wesleyan looks to regroup at home with the start of NESCAC play as the Cardinals host Bowdoin on Friday at 7 PM.