MADISON, N.J. (Dec. 30, 2014) – The performance put on by the big men of both teams proved well worth the hour-long delay that preceded a 78-74 victory by No.15 Amherst College victory over the Drew University men's basketball team on Tuesday night in Baldwin Gymnasium.
 
A game featuring thunderous dunks and dominating back-and-forth post play ended in a battle at the foul line and the nationally ranked Lord Jeffs (6-2) were able to survive a resilient push by the Rangers (6-4) during the game's tense final two minutes.
 
At 12:10 of the second quarter, junior forward Jason Huelbig happened. He hauled in a pass from classmate Mike Klinger at the top of the three-point line. Surveying the floor, he found a gap and like a halfback, exploded through the hole. Huelbig leapt and hung in the air in silence, extending one arm high above his head. He slammed that arm down towards the basket with the ball for a rim-rattling, groundbreaking slam-dunk. The dunk effectively posterized the 6-foot-8 center of Amherst, making him look like a blade of grass next to an oak.
 
"He blocked me on my last shot so I didn't think he would expect it" Huelbig said. "I knew I wanted to finish strong. It was definitely a momentum shifting play; sometimes you have to do something to spark everyone. I've never heard this gym sounds like that before after the play was over."


 
Huelbig paced the Rangers on the stat sheet with a double-double on a team-high 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Four other joined Huelbig in double figures as Kevin-Michael Miller netted 17, Klinger added 14, and juniors Kevin Herring II and Ozan Yucetepe each tossed in 10 points.
 
The contest's opening basket attempts were viciously swatted away by members of either team. On one series, the 6-foot-8 junior center Miller chipped away in the post. As he went up for a bucket an Amherst big man met him up there, batting away the would-be basket. Miller collected the rebound, and himself and tried again, same result. Miller being turned away was a rare and startling sight and Amherst established their presence.
 
The Rangers would not give away cheap points in the paint either. Huelbig smacked away two Amherst drives within the first five minutes, sending them careening off the glass like toys.
 
The teams exchanged baskets consistently as the first half ticked away. A single percentage point separated the schools' field goal clips and the score stood at 25-to-25 with seven minutes to play.
 
The tie was attained when Klinger charged and dished to Miller for an emphatic two-handed slam. Even when not contributing tangibly, the Ranger defense forced Amherst's hand. On two consecutive drives the same Lord Jeff forward attempted a weak side drive only to be called for a charge, and then for a traveling violation.
 
When Drew fouled, they did so smartly and opportunistically. When Amherst's 6'8 center attempted easy dunks, he got hacked by Drew's players, and his otherwise easy two points were thwarted. At the line, he was less efficient and shot four-for-nine on the half. He did, however, grab eight of the team's 20 rebounds.
 
Meanwhile Huelbig was snagging rebounds as well. The forward would shoot up, cutting through the air like an attacking great white through water. He captured eight rebounds by halftime. Huelbig and the Rangers took a hard earned 37 points into halftime against Amherst's 33.
 
"This game was a launching pad toward conference play," Huelbig said. "That was a good team, and some mental mistakes could have been all the difference. We'll be fine; we just need to show up to work tomorrow."
 
All scoring came to an abrupt halt as the second half got underway. Amherst went 4:14 before their first basket but Drew managed only two points of their own over that span.
 
A previously dormant junior guard named Herring II exploded. Klinger high-stepped the baseline and found Herring waiting in the corner for a crowd-erupting corner three. On the ensuing Amherst possession, Herring swiped it and took it on a fast break. Herring leapt but was thrown down by the trailing defender who was charged with a flagrant-one. Herring sank both free throws.
 
Amherst, to its credit, stormed back and erased the seven-point deficit that Huelbig's slam increased. They were doing something they hadn't done at all in the previous half, draining triples. With seven minutes to go in the game, Amherst led, 55-52. Drew would need to turn it on again. Klinger would take care of that and promptly nailed a deep trey to knot the score up.
 
The Lord Jeffs, however, exploded and seemingly everything began to fall from outside and in the paint.
 
Amherst took the reins with five minutes to go and eventually rode a hot streak to a 72-66 lead with a minute to play.
 
Drew hung around as seconds dripped off the clock. Amherst, when intentionally fouled, struggled to sink their free throws, leaving Drew within shouting distance. The Rangers followed a formula of close-range basket, intentional foul for the final minute. The effort brought them within four but the contest ended 78-74 in favor of Amherst.
 
The Rangers next contest is scheduled for Saturday, January 3^rd at Baldwin Gym against Juniata College in Landmark Conference action.