AMHERST, Massachusetts — Jeff Racy buried a 3-pointer with 15 seconds to play on Friday night, lifting 13th-ranked Amherst College to a 74-72 victory over Husson University of Bangor in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship.
The teams battled back and forth throughout as the game came down to the final seconds.
The Eagles called timeout after Racy’s clutch basket and ran down the game clock, putting the ball in the hands of North Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Trevon Butler. However, the senior lost the handle as he tried to maneuver into the paint and through the Lord Jeffs defense and the ball went out of bounds.
Amherst (23-5) advances to Saturday’s second-round game against SUNY Cortland.
Coach Warren Caruso’s squad, the NAC champion, finished the season at 21-7. The Eagles slipped to 0-6 in NCAA postseason play with perhaps its most agonizing defeat.
Johnny McCarthy sparked Amherst with 21 points and five rebounds. David George posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Connor Green (9 rebounds) and Racy tallied 11 points each.
The Lord Jeffs shot 39 percent overall and made eight of 24 from the 3-point arc while converting 16 of 26 free throws. The hosts also grabbed a 45-42 rebounding edge.
Butler tossed in a game-high 25 points and provided seven rebounds and three assists for Husson, which shot 40 percent (27-for-67) overall and was 8-for-23 from the arc and 10-for-16 at the foul line.
Junior Raheem Anderson contributed 17 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles and Darryl Wood just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Husson, which led by as many as nine points (40-31) late in the first half, experienced issues during the final three minutes of the contest.
The Eagles committed back-to-back turnovers during a span of 21 seconds that led to a David George jumper that gave Amherst a 71-69 lead with 1:50 to play. After the teams traded misses, Husson had another turnover.
However, after an Amherst miss, Anderson knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 72-71 lead with 30 seconds to play.
The Lord Jeffs answered with Racy’s big 3, which provided the winning margin.
Husson committed only 11 turnovers, but four came during the last 2:31.