Crimson Basketball Varsity Drops Opening Contest to Amherst, 51-47

AMHERST, Dec. 6--An unimpressive Amherst quintet defeated the varsity here tonight, 51 to 47, in the season opener for both teams. Trailing 36 to 34 with five minutes to play, the Lord Jeffs rallied for ten straight points to sew up the contest.

Poor shooting was the Crimson's undoing, as the team managed to hit less than 25 per cent of its field goal attempts. Amherst, on the other hand, did considerably better from the floor as well as from the foul line. Both squads took 24 free throws, Amherst converting 19 to the varsity's 13.

In the see-saw first half, which ended with the score 20 to 20, neither side was able to muster an effective offense. Sophomore Bob Bowditch scored the first two Crimson points on a jump shot after Ken Ratzan had given Amherst the lead with three minutes gone.

Bob Repetto then following a missed free throw with a jump shot from 15 feet, and Bowditch added another goal to give the varsity the biggest lead of the evening at the six-minute mark. Amherst's sloughing man-to-man defense gave the varsity countless opportunities to score from the outside, but they failed to cash in.

At the beginning of the second half, the Crimson missed ten consecutive shots before Repetto scored a three-point play to bring the varsity within one point of the home team. After Amherst increased its margin, Griff McClellan tied the game at 10:50 on two tip-ins.

The Crimson went ahead for the last time minutes later when Mike Donohue sank a 30-foot push shot with five and one-half minutes to play. It was then that the Lord Jeffs ran off their string of ten which iced the contest.

From that point on, the varsity employed a full court press, but it represented an unsuccessful attempt to get back into a ball game that it had already lost.

Outplaying Amherst in every department but shooting, the Crimson nevertheless lapsed, committing occasional traveling violations and throwing away passes, errors at which its opponents were even more adept. Both halves were marred by these errors, and by some atrocious officiating which was beneficial to neither team.

Offensively, the varsity relied too heavily on outside shooting. Only Donohue, who clicked for 11 points on five field goals and a foul, was able to hit with any consistency. George Harrington, counted on to give the squad scoring punch both from the outside and on drives, failed to connect on a single field goal try.

McClellan was fairly effective off the defensive backboard, but was usually prevented from grabbing offensive rebounds as he was often boxed out by Amherst's big men. He did, however, play the entire game, showing unexpected stamina and more poise than ever before.

The sloughing Lord Jeff defense bottled him up on offense, robbing the Crimson of its height advantage, yet when the outside shooters increase their potency he will be able to maneuver more freely underneath the basket, setting himself up for more scoring plays.

Donohue was high man for the Crimson with 11, followed by McClellan with 9, Repetto with 8, Bill Richling with 7, and Bowditch with 6. Harrington sank four free throws and John Foker scored the remaining two. Amherst's scoring was well distributed among eight men, with Dick Gernold's 12 points heading the list.

In the preliminary contest, the Amherst freshmen defeated the Yardlings, 71 to 56, in a fast and often sloppy game. Gary Borchard was outstanding in a losing cause, scoring 21 points and doing a solid job on both boards