UC Santa Cruz held off a determined Amherst team to win 58-56 Wednesday afternoon at the West Field House.
UC Santa Cruz goes to 8-5 on the year.

After the Banana Slugs trailed by three at the half, the second half had 9 ties and another 9 lead changes. The Banana Slugs got the lead for good with 1:11 left when Calvin Keyes' free-throw broke the last tie and made it 55-54. Eric DeBrine went 1-2 from the line to make it 58-56 with 3.9 seconds left before the Mammoths' game-winning three-point attempt hit the back of the rim.

For the game, UC Santa Cruz went 22-62 from the field (35.5%) and were 2-17 from three, with both makes in the second half. UC Santa Cruz finished with a 46-40 rebound advantage. Senior Avri Finch had team-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the year. He passed James Townsend (2012-15) for fifth on the school's career rebound list and now has 508 in his career. Keyes added 10 points and eight rebounds. Tyler Kessinger added six points to go with six rebounds and a team-high five assists.

The Banana Slugs are next back in action January 2nd when they travel to Storm Lake, Iowa to face Buena Vista University.