AMHERST, Mass. – The No. 15 Amherst College men's basketball team used a go-ahead three-pointer by Jeff Racy with 15 seconds left, as the Purple & White notched a thrilling, 74-72 victory over Husson University in Friday evening's NCAA Division III First Round tilt at LeFrak Gymnasium.

With the win, Amherst improves to 23-5 and will take on SUNY Cortland (21-7) tomorrow evening in NCAA Second Round action at 7 p.m. at LeFrak Gymnasium.  Husson concludes its season 21-7 overall.

Johnny McCarthy led Amherst with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field including 3-for-5 shooting from three-point range. Racy, Connor Green and David George followed with 11 points each, while George led all players with 11 rebounds.

Husson was led by Trevon Butler who scored a game-high 25 points on 9-of-25 efficiency from the field, including 19 in the second half. Raheem Anderson added 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the floor, while Darryl Wood netted 11 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds off the bench.

In a tightly contested first half, the sides battled to a trio of tie scorers over the first 10 minutes of the stanza, before Amherst took a 21-16 lead following a Racy trey and a Green layup with 9:33 to play. Husson answered with a 13-0 run over the next four minutes as Wood and Anderson each totaled five points, while Eli Itkin swished a triple to cap the stretch and put the Eagles ahead, 29-21 at the 5:31 mark.

The Purple & White responded with a run of their own as Amherst scored 10 of the next 14 points to even the game at 31-31. McCarthy connected from long range, Green hit a pair of buckets in the paint, and Michael Riopel added a layup and free throw during the span. Nine unanswered points by Husson lifted the visitors to their largest advantage of the game as Itkin drained a three-pointer with 41 seconds left to set the score at 40-31, but a Reid Berman strike from beyond-the-arc, followed by a pair of foul shots by Green with two ticks on the clock pulled the Purple & White to within four (40-36) at halftime.  

The Purple & White continued to chip away at the Eagles' lead in the second half, and twice knotted the contest before taking a 56-55 edge following a pair of Riopel free throws with 9:43 remaining. Husson extended its lead to 63-60 following an Anderson put-back basket underneath with 7:05 to play in the game, Amherst answered as George swished a pair from the charity stripe, while McCarthy made a sensational fast-break layup after Riopel swatted a three-point attempt. Berman hauled in the loose ball and dished to McCarthy who finished with a crucial layup at the 6:15 mark to make it 64-63. He then swished a trey to give the Purple & White a 67-63 lead with 5:34 to play.

Butler, who erupted for 19 points in the second half, powered in a layup less than a minute later to help level the game again at 67-67. Two free throws by Anderson gave Husson a 69-67 edge with 3:29 to play, but five seconds later, McCarthy delivered a game-tying layup to set the score at 69-69 with 3:22 on the clock. With time winding down, George hit a jumper to give the Purple & White a 71-69 lead, but a clutch trey from Anderson with 30 seconds remaining gave the Eagles a 72-71 advantage. Fifteen seconds later, Racy canned a go-ahead three-pointer which proved to be the game-winner, as Amherst forced a Husson turnover on its ensuing possession to seal the victory.