The Yellowjackets move into the Sectional Championship game against SUNY Potsdam at 7 pm Saturday. Potsdam defeated third-ranked St. John Fisher, 67-43, in the first game of the doubleheader. Saturday’s winner advances to the Final Four in Salem, VA next weekend.
Hauben had plenty of help Five other Yellowjackets scored between eight and nine points. Jon Onyiriuka scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. Eric Snider had eight points in 13 minutes off the bench.
Andrew Schiel scored a game-high 20 points for the Lord Jeffs. Jon Beford had 17 points.
Rochester’s win snapped a 19-game Amherst winning streak and an 18-game homecourt winning streak which dated back to last season. Amherst finishes its season at 26-2. Rochester is 23-4.
The Yellowjackets held a 42-26 advantage on the backboards, 19-9 on the offensive glass.
“Nineteen offensive rebounds,” said head coach Mike Neer. “That’s who we are. We aren’t pretty.”
“We gave them plenty of second chances and 24 points,” said Amherst coach Dan Hixson. “They’re a good offensive rebounding team.”
The Lord Jeffs used a 6-0 run over 1:32 midway through the first half to tie the game at 18-18. Brendan McAllister sank a three-pointer for the Yellowjackets. Joe Canty his a 12-footer from left wing. Then Hauben and Snider scored on putbacks. It was 27-18 with 6:56 left in the half.
“They had a big front line,” said Schiel. “(Onyiriuka) jumps real well and Hauben is a beast. It was tough keeping them off the glass.”
Amherst battled back to 30-28 by halftime. A three-point play by Hauben extended the Rochester lead to 40-36 five minutes into the second half. It lit a fire under Amherst. Schiel hit from the foul line. Russell Lee hit a three-pointer, giving the Jeffs their first lead, 41-40. Onyiriuka answered for Rochester but Schiel sank a three-point goal and Andrew Olson hit from the foul line. Amherst led, 46-42, with 11:49 left. With the crowd of 1,700 howling, Neer called time.
“During the week in practice, we reminded the players that they’re (Amherst) gonna have runs and that we should keep it together when they did,” said Neer.
Rochester came out of the timeout on a 9-2 burst in the next 3:07 to open a 53-48 lead. It put the Yellowjackets ahead to stay. Jeff Juron hit a jumper off the left baseline, Gabe Perez drove for a layup, and Juron added a three-point goal. After Dan Wheeler scored for Amherst, Snider hit a follow, then added a layup.
“This game was a perfect example of our growth and confidence,” said Neer. “We had five guards score today.”
“I was looking for my shot early,” Hauben said. “Then they started double- and triple-teaming me. We had all the confidence in the guards.”
Newspaper Box Score Rochester vs Amherst College 3/11/05 8 p.m. at Amherst, MA At Amherst, MA ROCHESTER 69, AMHERST COLLEGE 62 ROCHESTER (23-4) Hauben, Seth 9-19 1-3 19; Perez, Gabe 2-6 5-5 9; Snider, Eric 4-6 1-2 9; Onyiriuka, Jon 3-11 2-2 8; Juron, Jeff 3-9 0-0 8; McAllister, Brendan 3-7 0-0 8; Brackney, Tim 2-2 0-0 5; Canty, Joe 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-61 10-14 69. AMHERST COLLEGE (26-2) Andrew Schiel 8-15 3-4 20; John Bedford 8-14 1-3 17; John Casnocha 3-6 2-3 8; Dan Wheeler 3-7 0-0 6; Andrew Olson 3-8 0-0 6; Russell Lee 1-5 2-4 5. Totals 26-55 8-14 62. Rochester..................... 30 39 - 69 Amherst College............... 28 34 - 62 3-point goals-Rochester 5-11 (Juron, Jeff 2-4; McAllister, Brendan 2-6; Brackney, Tim 1-1), Amherst College 2-15 (Andrew Schiel 1-3; Russell Lee 1-4; John Casnocha 0-3; Dan Wheeler 0-3; John Bedford 0-2). Fouled out--Rochester-None, Amherst College-John Casnocha. Rebounds-Rochester 42 (Hauben, Seth 14), Amherst College 26 (Andrew Schiel 5). Assists-Rochester 12 (Perez, Gabe 5), Amherst College 10 (John Bedford 4). Total fouls-Rochester 17, Amherst College 16. A-1700