AMHERST - Amherst Regional boys basketball senior Tchuijo Nkamebo popped a balloon that wafted down from the rafters inside the walls of the Hurricanes' gymnasium as play was stopped during the second quarter of a key Suburban League game with his team comfortably ahead by eight points Wednesday.

But it was Amherst whose chances for a league title deflated in the hands of Westfield and junior forward Devin Wells.

Wells scored 21 points, including a huge basket and two big free throws in the final 21 seconds to lead the Bombers past Hurricanes, 53-51, on the final night of the regular season.

"They played with more intensity," said Nkamebo, who finished with a game-high 22 points. "They attacked the boards more."

Despite losing a chance to secure the league title, Nkamebo was still upbeat about the regular season and his team's chances in the upcoming Western Massachusetts Division 1 Tournament.

"This was a pretty special night - it was our last home game," he said. "If we can play with intensity, we will get past the first round."

Amherst (10-10, 5-3) ratcheted up its intensity level early, building a nine-point lead late in the first quarter, 22-13, following consecutive putbacks from Nkamebo, the first of which resulted in a three-point play.

Westfield (12-8, 5-3) rallied to within one point, 34-33, midway through the third quarter on Wells' shot. Nkamebo knocked down another put back to increase the lead. The Bombers had a chance to tie, but senior guard Billy Smith, who was fouled beyond the arc, missed all three free throws.

Nkamebo scored another low-post basket with 3:45 remaining in the quarter to take a five-point lead, but Wells banged in a 2 with 3:23 left and beat the 30-second shot clock late to pull Westfield within 38-37.

Wells gave the Bombers their first lead since the opening quarter with a basket 45 seconds into the fourth. Nkamebo made two free throws and a two to help Amherst recapture a 42-39 advantage with 5:29 left.

With 5:15 remaining, Justin Crosby made two free throws to cut the lead to one. Nkamebo scored again. Wells responded with a putback to pull within one again. Crosby made the second of two free throws to tie the game at 44 with 1:46 left on the clock.

Josh Whitaker put Amherst back out in front as he came across the lane, dribbled the ball around his back, and made an acrobatic move before laying it in at the 1:27 mark.

Then junior guard Kyle Murphy laid the ball in high off the glass with 1:15 remaining to knot the game at 46-46.

Smith stole the ensuing inbounds pass from Amherst, and made easy the lay-up to go up two.

Over the course of the next 30 seconds, three straight trips to the foul line, two by Amherst, resulted in just one made basket each time. The Hurricanes trailed 49-48 with 41.1 ticks left.

Wells had a shot rejected in the final half-minute, but collected the rebound and hoisted up a mid-range jumper, which fell with 21 seconds left. He added two free throws with 10.1 on the clock.

Amherst's Norris Cuevas-Nova trickled in a 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds remaining. The Hurricanes fouled Westfield's Matthew Krutka a half-second later. Krutka missed both free throws, James Sowers (11 points) came up with the ball and launched a shot from half court, which bounced off the backboard and out.

Whitaker and Cuevas-Nova each finished with eight points.

"That's a big win for us," Wells said. "They blew us out last time. We wanted to come out on fire. We want to show teams that just because we lost our guards (to graduation last year), we are still capable of a huge run in the playoffs."