Junior Matt Johnson added 10 points and nine boards while sophomore Jon Hogga chipped in 12.
GM will play the host Richard Stockton tomorrow at 7 p.m. The Ospreys were 79-65 winners over RPI in the first game.
The Griffins (23-5) trailed by as much as eight at the 13:51 mark of the first. Hogga’s jumper gave GM its first lead and later his three-pointer upped the edge to 24-21.
Hogga then hit a tough finger roll layin and was fouled. His free throw gave Gwynedd a 32-26 lead with 3:59.
Another trey from Talley, who scored 15 points in the first stanza, followed by a turnaround jumper in the paint from Hogga, was part of an 11-1 run to spike GM ahead, 39-28 with 1:25 on the clock.
But a late 3 from Marcus Bradley with under five seconds in the stanza cut the score to 41-33 at the half.
The Lord Jeffs were just 11-of-30 shooting, but seven of their field goals were three-pointers. Gwynedd hit on 50.0% (15-of-30) in the first 30 minutes, going 5-for-10 from downtown.
Amherst scored the first five points of the second, pulling within 41-38 to force a Gwynedd timeout. GM responded by forcing two turnovers as part of a 10-0 spurt, capped by Talley’s reverse layup to give GM a 51-38 edge forcing Amherst to call their own timeout.
Smith’s spin move underneath drew a foul, and with the ensuing free throw, Gwynedd held a 58-44 edge with 9:55 on the clock.
Amherst once again rallied outscoring GM on a 15-2 run over the next seven minutes to get within one, 60-59 on a Taylor Barrise layin at the 3:01 mark.
Dave Smith, who scored nine of his 11 points in the second half helped GM pull away, scoring the next four points, the last coming with 1:21 remaining on a leaner in the paint.
Talley would ice the game on a breakaway dunk off a homerun pass from Johnson.
Conor Meehan led the Lord Jeffs (21-7) with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Steven Wheeler added 14 as he hit four of the team’s 11 three-pointers.
For the game, the Griffins shot 43.3 (26-of-60) held a 40-39 rebound edge.
Newspaper Box Score Amherst vs Gwynedd-Mercy 03/06/09 8 pm at Sports Center - Pomona, N.J. GWYNEDD-MERCY 68, AMHERST 62 AMHERST ((21-7)) Conor Meehan 6-13 5-5 18; Steven Wheeler 5-12 0-0 14; Taylor Barrise 3-4 0-0 8; Marcus Bradley 2-8 0-0 6; Brian Baskauskas 2-11 0-0 5; Jeff Holmes 2-7 0-0 4; David Waller 1-4 0-0 3; Mike Holsey 1-2 0-4 2; Kurt Bennett 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-64 5-9 62. GWYNEDD-MERCY ((23-5)) TALLEY,LEMEIRE 9-18 3-4 23; HOGGA,JON 5-12 1-1 12; SMITH,DAVE 5-10 1-1 11; JOHNSON,MATT 2-9 5-7 10; MCCAULEY,TIM 2-4 1-1 5; WROTEN,HAVEN 2-6 0-1 4; DELCONTE,DAN 1-1 0-0 3; CRABTREE,JON 0-0 0-0 0; PAYNE,MIKE 0-0 0-0 0; MCCARTY,RYAN 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 11-15 68. Amherst....................... 33 29 - 62 Gwynedd-Mercy................. 41 27 - 68 3-point goals--Amherst 11-36 (Steven Wheeler 4-11; Marcus Bradley 2-8; Taylor Barrise 2-3; Brian Baskauskas 1-6; Conor Meehan 1-3; David Waller 1-3; Mike Holsey 0-1; Jeff Holmes 0-1), Gwynedd-Mercy 5-11 (TALLEY,LEMEIRE 2-3; DELCONTE,DAN 1-1; JOHNSON,MATT 1-5; HOGGA,JON 1-2). Fouled out--Amherst-None, Gwynedd-Mercy-None. Rebounds--Amherst 39 (Conor Meehan 11), Gwynedd-Mercy 40 (JOHNSON,MATT 9). Assists--Amherst 18 (Conor Meehan 8), Gwynedd-Mercy 10 (TALLEY,LEMEIRE 3; JOHNSON,MATT 3). Total fouls--Amherst 15, Gwynedd-Mercy 14. Technical fouls--Amherst-None, Gwynedd-Mercy-None. A-175 2009 NCAA DIVISION III TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND GAME