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FITZSIMMONS POWERS AMHERST PAST COLBY IN NESCAC MEN'S BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS Hartford, Conn. Sophomore center Patrick Fitzsimmons (Durham, N.C.) totaled 11 points and 16 rebounds to lead Amherst College Lord Jeffs to a 61-46 win over the Colby College White Mules in the semifinal round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament this evening at Oosting Gymnasium. Amherst, seeded No. 4 in the tourney, improves to 20-5 for the season and advances to the finals tomorrow at 7 p.m. No. 1-seed Trinity College faces No. 6-seed Connecticut College at 8 p.m. this evening in Hartford. Colby falls to 17-9 and is eliminated from the tournament. The winner of the NESCAC Championship earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. The game got off to a slow start with neither team scoring a point for the opening 3:30, before Colby senior guard Jake Civiello (Bangor, Maine) hit a three-pointer. Colby went ahead, 5-0, on a reverse lay-up by senior forward Sam Clark (Woolwich, Mass.), but the Lord Jeffs outscored the White Mules, 16-2 over the next seven minutes to give Amherst a 16-7 lead with 8:41 remaining in the first half. Amherst extended its lead to 30-19 at the half, shooting just 36 percent from the field but connecting on six out of 17 three-point attempts. The Lord Jeffs held Colby to just eight field goals and 31 percent field goal shooting for the half. Clark led all scorers after the first 20 minutes with 12 points. Amherst scored eight out of the first 12 points of the second half to take a 38-23 lead with 15 minutes left to play. Fitzsimmons scored six points during the Amherst run. Colby rallied to score seven unanswered points, as Clark and junior guard Damien Strathorn (Menlo Park, Calif.) each hit three-point shots, and cut the lead to eight points at 38-30. Strathorn connected on another three to bring Colby within four points at 39-35 with 9:39 to play, but Amherst senior guard Brian Daoust (Dover, Mass.) hit two three-pointers and two lay-ups to highlight a 14-3 Amherst run that put the game out of reach. Daoust finished with 13 points and junior forward Steve Zieja (Hadley, Mass.) scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Lord Jeffs. Amherst freshman guard Adam Harper ()Washington, D.C.) added 10 points off the bench, sinking all three of his shots from three-point range, and classmate Ryan Faulkner paced the Lord Jeffs with six assists. Clark led all scorers with 20 points, but made just three out of 11 free throws, and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. No other White Mules scored in double figures, as Colby shot just 33.3 percent from the field 28.6 percent from the foul line. SCORING A- Brian Daoust 5-16 (3) 0-0 13, Steve Zieja 3-12 (1) 5-5 12, Patrick
Fitzsimmons 4-9 3-5 11, C- Sam Clark 8-18 (1) 3-11 20, Jake Civiello 2-3 (2) 1-2 7, Damien Strathorn
2-9 (2) 0-1 6, 2001 Colby Men's BasketballColby vs. Amherst - 2/23
All FG 3 Pt -FT- Rebounds
Amherst M- A M- A M- A Off Def Tot PF-D Pts A TO BLK STL Min
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*Brian Daoust 5- 16 3-10 0- 0 0 3 3 2-0 13 1 3 0 2 37
*Ryan Faulkner 2- 3 0- 0 1- 3 1 2 3 1-0 5 6 3 0 2 36
*Erik Kelly 2- 9 2- 7 0- 0 0 1 1 0-0 6 1 1 0 1 22
*Stephen Zieja 3- 12 1- 6 5- 5 3 3 6 1-0 12 1 0 0 2 34
*Patrick Fitzsimmons 4- 9 0- 0 3- 5 5 11 16 3-0 11 0 2 4 3 32
Adam Harper 3- 3 3- 3 1- 2 0 3 3 2-0 10 2 2 0 1 19
John Donavan 0- 0 0- 0 2- 2 0 0 0 0-0 2 1 1 0 0 6
Tim Jones 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 1 1 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Patrick Taverna 0- 0 0- 0 2- 2 0 3 3 1-0 2 0 1 0 0 6
Abram Sexson 0- 1 0- 0 0- 0 1 2 3 4-0 0 0 0 1 0 5
Paul Williams 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Team 0 3 3 0 0
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Amherst 19- 53 9-26 14-19 10 32 42 16-0 61 12 13 5 11 200
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-- First Half -- - Second Half - ---- Total ----
All FG 9- 25 36.0% 10- 28 35.7% 19- 53 35.8% Deadball
3 Pt FG 6- 17 35.3% 3- 9 33.3% 9- 26 34.6% Rebounds: 1
FT 6- 7 85.7% 8- 12 66.7% 14- 19 73.7%
All FG 3 Pt -FT- Rebounds
Colby M- A M- A M- A Off Def Tot PF-D Pts A TO BLK STL Min
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*David Forsyth 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 2-0 0 1 0 0 1 10
*Zeb Davis 2- 5 0- 1 0- 0 1 3 4 2-0 4 0 0 1 0 28
*Jake Civiello 2- 3 2- 3 1- 2 0 3 3 4-0 7 2 0 0 0 16
*Sam Clark 8- 18 1- 4 3-11 3 6 9 1-0 20 1 3 2 0 40
*Joseph Gutierrez 1- 5 1- 3 0- 0 0 7 7 3-0 3 2 4 0 1 26
Jonathan Moro 1- 1 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 1-0 2 1 3 0 1 14
Nick Loukes 1- 6 0- 1 0- 0 3 0 3 1-0 2 2 1 0 1 14
Kirk Allen 0- 1 0- 1 0- 0 0 1 1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 8
Damien Strahorn 2- 9 2- 6 0- 1 0 2 2 2-0 6 1 1 0 1 23
Kevin Crosman 1- 3 0- 1 0- 0 1 2 3 1-0 2 1 2 0 0 9
Sean Flood 0- 3 0- 0 0- 0 1 1 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 12
Team 2 3 5 0 0
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Colby 18- 54 6-20 4-14 11 28 39 17-0 46 11 14 3 6 200
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-- First Half -- - Second Half - ---- Total ----
All FG 8- 26 30.8% 10- 28 35.7% 18- 54 33.3% Deadball
3 Pt FG 1- 7 14.3% 5- 13 38.5% 6- 20 30.0% Rebounds: 3
FT 2- 6 33.3% 2- 8 25.0% 4- 14 28.6%
Technical Fouls: None
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