WORCESTER, Mass. - The Western Connecticut State University Wolves were defeated, 85-45, by the Amherst College Mammoths in the opening round of the Ted Coghlin Memorial Men's Basketball Tournament at Worcester Polytechnic Institute this evening.  WestConn falls to 1-2 and will face St. Joseph's (Maine) in the consolation round tomorrow at 3 p.m.  Amherst wins its season opener and faces the host WPI Engineers, who downed the St. Joseph's Maine Monks, 80-73, in the other first round game tonight.  Senior forward Jourdan Belcher (Middletown, N.Y.) paced the Wolves with 10 points.

Belcher opened the scoring with a put-back but Amherst's C.J. Mitchell answered with a three-pointer and the Mammoths never trailed after that point.  WestConn trailed, 40-24, at the break, shot 29.3 percent from the floor and missed 14 of its 15 three-point tries in the game.  The Wolves bench was a bright spot, scoring 24 of the team's 45 points.  Senior Keeshawn Jones (Middletown, N.Y.) paced WestConn on the boards with seven rebounds, but Amherst finished with a 47-to-33 edge on the glass.