AMHERST — The wait continues for the Amherst Regional boys basketball team.

The Hurricanes fell to 0-4 on the season following their 46-42 loss to Taconic on Monday.

Tied 40-40 with less than two minutes to go in regulation, the Braves (4-1) began to pull away with a quick score off an offensive-end inbound layup from Kyle McGrath. 

Taconic upped it to a four-point game with about a minute remaining, before a pair of Braves went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to push their lead to 46-40. Mitchell Carey sank a deep two-pointer to cut Amherst’s deficit to 46-42 with 14 seconds remaining, however a turnover off an inbound with 1.5 seconds left sealed the Hurricanes’ fate in Monday’s non-league matchup.

“We just have guys who don’t have experience playing in big games. This was a big game,” Amherst head coach Jamahl Jackson said. “You need guys to go through the highs and lows of big games, making a mistake and having to grow from it, making good plays, learning from plays. It’s unfortunate it’s going to be baptism by fire. We’re going to have to go through those moments and those growing pains with these guys, even if they’re a senior.”

Carey carried the Hurricanes on offense with 18 points, including 10 points in the second half, while Samuel Woodruff played well down low for Amherst, racking up 14 points, with seven points in each half.

“I knew this was going to be quite a matchup and challenge, [Woodruff] and McGrath are similar in many ways,” Jackson said. “I’m just proud of how [Woodruff] focused, how dedicated and how he’s putting time in his craft. He’s a lead by example guy. I know when he’s playing hard like that, a lot of guys will follow suit. Obviously I thought there’s things he could’ve done a little bit better today but he gave us a chance.”

Amherst trailed 24-17 at halftime, but then rattled off 17 points in the third quarter to make it a one-point game going into the final eight minutes at 35-34. Woodruff led the Hurricanes with seven points during the third.

McGrath had the most points for Taconic (22 points), despite not seeing much of the floor during the second half because of foul trouble. The Braves reached the MIAA Division 3 Final Four last year.

Jackson disclosed after the game that a sickness has been making its way around the team, which has limited what Amherst can do during practice, yet he was pleased with his team’s compete level on Monday.

“We can grow from what we showed here today because again, I really thought our desire to win, our compete, our hustle plays, loose balls, fighting for rebounds because they have a very good front-court, Taconic, and I thought we did a hell of a job,” Jackson said. “Even though in the first half, McGrath, he had 16 in the first half. We got him in foul trouble so he had to sit most of the second half, and that was a point of emphasis for us, but we can’t drop our compete level from where it was today. It has to be here and above from here on out.”

Tylahn Beckett (four points), Gael Buford (four points) and Sabir Douglas (two points) also scored points for the Hurricanes in defeat. 

Neither team was particularly strong from beyond the arc as the Braves hit two, while Amherst failed to make any 3-pointers.

Free throws favored the Hurricanes heavily as they finished 10-for 17 from the line while Taconic went 4-for-18.

Amherst will look to pick up win No. 1 on Friday when it travels to Longmeadow. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.