Upated: 6:06 p.m.
Washington U. center Troy Ruths was too much to handle for Amherst on Saturday at the Salem Civic Center. Ruths scored 33 points and got plenty of outside shooting help from his teammates and Washington won its first national championship 90-68.
Amherst (27-4) failed to defend the championship in won in Salem last year.
Washington (25-6) saw its 13-point halftime lead shrink to 55-49 with 15:09 left on a basket by Brian Baskauskas. But Washington went on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes to build a 69-51 lead. The lead remained in double digits for the remainder of the game.
Aaron Thompson added 19 points and Tyler Nading 13 for Washington.
Fletcher Walters led Amherst with 17 points and Andrew Olson had 16 points and six assists.
Ruths was named the Most Outstanding Player of the final four. Joining him on the all-tournament team was teammate Thompson and Amherst's Olson and Derek Van Solkema of Hope and John Noonan of Ursinus.
4:45 p.m. Saturday
Amherst's quest to win consecutive national championships in Salem is in danger at halftime. The Lord Jeffs trail Washington U. of St. Louis 45-32.
It was all Troy Ruths in the low post for much of the first half for the Bears as he wheeled and dealed in the lane for 17 points. He scored in a variety of ways or was able to get to the free-throw line as Amherst used four different players to guard the 6-foot-6 center. The Lord Jeffs opened with 6-10 Kevin Hopkins, then went to 6-7 Brandon Jones, 6-6 Matt Goldsmith off the bench and 6-6 Mike Holsey off the bench. Holsey, probably the best leaper on the floor, didn't play in Friday's semifinal until the final minutes when the outcome was no longer in doubt. Ruths scored 30 in Friday's semifinal win over Hope.
The Bears look for Ruths every time down the floor. But when they can't get him the ball, they had plenty of other shooters, led by Aaron Thompson with 11 points and Tyler Nading with seven.
Amherst point guard Andrew Olson, who dominated Friday's semifinal win over Ursinus with a triple-double, couldn't find many good open shots. He had only six points but had four important assists, two on backdoor plays. His assists came at a time when the Lord Jeffs were cutting a 25-12 lead to 35-27 with 3:36 to play in the half.
From there, Washington closed the half with a 10-5 run.
-- Jeff Gilbert
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