AMHERST, Mass. -- The 25th-ranked Amherst College men's basketball team outscored the University of Maine at Farmington 46-21 in the second half to pull away from the Beavers for a 76-51 victory at the Ken Wright Memorial Invitational tonight.

The Beavers (0-1) are scheduled to face Endicott College in the consolation game on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Josh Tanguay (Gorham, ME) led the Beavers with 14 points and 12 boards, with Eric Taylor (Oakland, ME) adding 10 points as the only other Maine player in double-digits.  

After winning the opening tip, Amherst sophomore Taylor Barrise (Allendale, NJ) nailed a three for the Lord Jeff's first points of the season. After seeing the Beavers score a pair of buckets, Barrise hit another three to open up an 8-4 lead for Amherst. The Beavers responded with an 11-4 run, taking at 15-12 lead with 11:43 to play on a jumper by DJ Gerrish (Rumford, ME).

A 3-pointer by Gerrish with 4:37 to play in the first half put the Beavers ahead 28-23, which proved to be the largest lead of the frame for either team. The Lord Jeffs finished the opening stanza on a 7-2 run, sending the two teams into the break tied 30-30. At the half, Barrise and Kurt Bennett (Placerville, CA) led Amherst with eight points apiece, while Eric Lelansky (Portland, ME) and Tanguay each scored eight for the Beavers.

Amherst started the second half on fire, going on a 14-3 scoring run over the first 3:51 of play to open up a 44-33 lead. Maine-Farmington twice cut the lead below ten points, before a lay-up by Amherst rookie Peter Kaasila (Plaistow, NH) at the 11:32 mark put the Lord Jeffs up double-digits for good.

With 6:51 to play in the second half, Amherst's lead swelled to 20 points on a jumper by junior tri-captain Conor Meehan (Meriden, CT). First-year Allen Williamson (Saugus, MA) brought the crowd to its feet with four minutes to play on a put-back dunk.

Kaasila led the Lord Jeffs with 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting, while Meehan and senior tri-captain Steve Wheeler (Bloomington, MN) each found double-digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively.